Cross Your Ts
by eyesocketsandsuits
Summary: Valkyrie had also expected something. The past few months had been filled with cases like this one. Simple, silly, pointless thefts. It was boring. It was maddening. She wanted to punch someone who deserved it. The summer had slid in, stealing anything interesting from them. Cases they looked into were dead ends. They all were. Skulduggery looked at her. "Something's wrong."
1. Harry Potter

**Revisions may be made to chapters. There will be an announcement if previous chapters have been changed.**

 **Not an AU.**

* * *

Skulduggery's head tilted. "Lampshade."

The rocks crumbled into one another, stone after stone, a deep rumbling sending shudders up Valkyrie's legs. She peered into the darkness, but the grin fell from her face.

"Oh, good. More cave."

Skulduggery looked at her. Looked at the cave behind them, stretching off into the gloom, at the abandoned mining equipment. "What were you expecting?"

Valkyrie gave a half-hearted shrug. "I dunno'. Maybe an office building? Why is it always caves? Or castles? Or dungeons?" She kicked a stone into the darkness ahead. "Why can't it ever be out in the sunlight?"

Skulduggery snapped his fingers, a flame quickly dancing to life in his palm. They started down the long corridor, and Valkyrie heard bats flutter over their heads.

"Well, it wouldn't be very… intimidating, would it?" Skulduggery said, looking around them. "A nice, brightly lit office building. We could stroll right up and knock on the door and punch them in the face. This way, they can have riddles."

Valkyrie made a face. "God, that was so stupid. _Lampshade_. It literally _was_ lampshade. That was _really_ stupid. How long did we spend? Three days, wandering around to every lamp-themed silliness. The moth, the soul-lamp, the _moth_."

"Are you still upset about the moth?"

"It tried to lay eggs in my stomach, and you laughed."

"Yes, but I stopped laughing when it attacked you."

Skulduggery walked faster, like he was eager for this long walk to reach its destination. She shared the sentiment; Valkyrie was itching for a fight.

" _Lampshade_ ," Valkyrie muttered. "We overthought it."

"No, we thought about it just enough. We went through the proper channels, talked to the right people. Whoever stole the stone didn't think about it _enough_."

Valkyrie nodded. "It's kind of lame stealing a _Harry Potter_ rip-off. They probably aren't very original, or smart."

Skulduggery glanced at her, the flame casting dancing shadows on his skull. "For the last time, it has nothing to do with _Harry Potter_."

"It's the Resurrection Stone, Skulduggery, it's like, one-third of the entire plot for the last two movies."

"The actual Resurrection Stone has nothing to do with _Harry Potter_."

"It's a lot cooler in the movie. It actually brings people back. _Our_ Resurrection Stone just does a lame hologram. Why do we even need it back? Who even uses a lame hologram when we have Echo Stones?"

"Echo Stones are expensive. The Resurrection Stone is helpful for loved ones who are grieving."

"But… it's not _them_. It's like a photograph."

"Funnily enough, it's mainly used by artists for paintings."

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"You forget there's an Adept branch that focuses on rupturing people. Sort of hard to paint a portrait when there isn't a face." His shoulders tensed slightly. "This cave is ridiculously long."

Valkyrie grinned. "We should fly."

"You might get a bat caught in your hair."

Valkyrie stepped closer, and Skulduggery sighed and scooped her up. She laughed as they swept into the air, Skulduggery's flame flickering out and leaving them in utter darkness. He started to say something, and then they hit the net.

Nets weren't supposed to hurt. Valkyrie let out a bark of pain as the net bit into her exposed skin, even through her clothes, like it was made of fishing wire. The net flung them back and Skulduggery lost his grip on her.

Valkyrie twisted as she fell, landing heavily. Pain shot up her legs, but she gritted her teeth remained standing. Skulduggery's flame reappeared, and he walked next to her, looking up at the next stretching off to the ceiling.

"You know," Valkyrie said, "you'd be really pissy if I dropped _you_."

"Knowing how mature you are, I'm sure you'll be able to forgive me." Skulduggery's head tilted to the side. "Hear that?"

"No."

"Stop pouting. Come on."

They crept forward, Skulduggery's flame growing dimmer and dimmer. Now Valkyrie heard the voice; low, angry, commanding, interrupted with a smoker's cough. It was one of those voices that made Valkyrie want to disobey on principle.

A sharp crack of skin on skin echoed back to them.

A little camp had been set up at the only juncture of the cave. Floodlights illuminated a pedestal, on which the small, blue Resurrection Stone sat. It wasn't, as Valkyrie assumed, very impressive. Other than that, there was just three people and a table covered in paper.

"Good God, you fuckers are stupid. What are your orders?"

Two huge men looked down and blinked. "Protect the stone," they said in unison.

The first man nodded. "A miracle."

Skuduggery looked at Valkyrie, shrugged, and stepped out of the shadow. She followed, electricity crackling on her fingers.

And then this man, this man who Valkyrie could utterly destroy in a fight, turned around to glare at the two of them. Valkyrie was used to two reactions from people upon their arrival: fear or uneasiness. This man looked at them like they were a late train.

Valkyrie wanted to punch him.

Skulduggery nodded. "Right. I feel you should know, before any harsh words or actions are thrown about, that the riddle you left was one of the dumbest I've ever heard."

The man jutted his chin out. "Get them."

The huge men stepped forward, eyes dull and glassy, no real anger crossing their features. One was bald, one wasn't, but other than that, they could have been twins. Small eyes, small ears, blank expressions. And muscles. They were mainly muscles, with a small head on top.

"You can have the big one," Skulduggery muttered to her.

"Thanks."

The men lunged, the bald one going for Valkyrie. She skipped back, giving herself room, but he kept coming. She went underneath, dodging the punch, but it was like he was anticipating her move. Impossibly fast, his fist slammed down on her shoulder.

Valkyrie went with the fist. She hurtled forwards, trying to knock the man off balance. But it was like pushing against a brick wall. Blows rained down on her from above and she scrambled back. She reached up, sending a bolt of magic into him.

The man took a step back, shook himself, then stepped forward like the attack had just been an annoying fly.

Valkyrie managed to get her feet under her, and then Skulduggery slammed into her. She twisted underneath him, trying to shove him off as gently as possible. He was hauled off of her, and then her grunt was there, ready with a boot in her side.

She twisted around his foot when it came, but it still drove her breath out of her. She sucked in a lungful of air, and watched through the grunt's leg as the third man strolled away into the darkness.

"Skulduggery," she croaked.

Another kick didn't come. The man was turning around, looking at the stone. Valkyrie lashed out, slamming her fist into the back of his knees. The grunt's legs buckled, but Valkyrie was already up, slamming the back of her palm into his head. The man was on his knees, and Valkyrie cuffed his ears.

He fell. She gave him an extra kick, just to make sure.

Skulduggery was already moving on, the Resurrection Stone floating into his hand and then he was running into the left tunnel. Valkyrie took the left, magic crackling in her hand so she could see ahead of her.

A wall.

"Fuck. Lampshade. Lamp. Lampshade. Shade. Light. _Lampshade_!" She kicked the wall, letting out a yell of frustration.

No, if he had gone this way, she would have caught up to him. Valkyrie turned and ran back to the floodlights, then turned to the left tunnel, nearly crashing into Skulduggery.

"Where'd he go?" she asked, looking around. "Teleporter?"

Skulduggery shook his head. "I don't think so. I can't read any disturbances in the air—no tunnels revealed themselves for his escape."

"He can't just be _gone_."

Skulduggery was looking around. "No, he can't, but he is."

"Well that makes sense." Valkyrie walked over to the table. "He took all the paper with him."

"What paper?"

She gave him a funny look. "There was a bunch of paper. It looked like notebook paper, or maybe a legal pad. You didn't see it?"

Skulduggery was silent for a moment. Valkyrie grinned.

"You didn't notice it, did you?"

Skulduggery walked over to the grunts, rolling them onto their backs. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and went about shackling them. Valkyrie stood behind him, grinning. She watched his shoulders hunch as he worked.

"The thing that separates you and me, Valkyrie, is that I can gloat with tact. With poise. When I gloat, it's a masterpiece of gloating. A Van Gogh of gloating, if you will—"

Valkyrie laughed at him, and he slumped.

Skulduggery held the grunts in the air and they walked back into the fresh air, Skulduggery grumpy and Valkyrie still grinning. A van of Cleavers pulled up and they managed, three to a man, to get them inside. Valkyrie watched in amusement until Skulduggery suggested they leave.

"What do you think they wanted with the stone?" Valkyrie asked, buckling into the car. "Skulduggery?"

He was gazing out the window, fingers tapping against the steering wheel. Valkyrie could tell he was thinking, and she watched him for a moment. His shirt was still was crisp, but the dust from the cave was covering him. He must have quite the puzzle if he hadn't taken the time to fix his suit.

It took her a full ten seconds to realize he was staring back at her.

Valkyrie blinked and looked away. "Why did they steal the stone?"

Skuduggery started the Bentley, moving it onto the dirt road. "I'm not sure. We can bring the stone to the Sanctuary, see if someone can figure out a way to load the last hologram. However, the Resurrection Stone hasn't been properly taken care of in years, so it might be too damaged to even have a memory."

"Perfect."

"Mm," he agreed.

Valkyrie gazed out the window. It hadn't rained in weeks. The land outside was parched, an unprecedented heat wave, the weathermen said. The cave had been cool and clear, but back out in the sunlight, Valkyrie could feel her thoughts slipping away from her into a restless haze.

She should sunbathe.

Or, something.

Valkyrie frowned, turning the air conditioner up.

Skulduggery was still tapping his fingers, a quick, rhythmless beat. Another pointless case. Valkyrie had expected this—after all, the end of the world can only come so many times in the span of a few short years.

But Valkyrie had also expected _something_. The past few months had been filled with cases like this one. Simple, silly, pointless thefts. It was boring. It was maddening. She wanted to punch someone who _deserved_ it. The summer had slid in, stealing anything interesting from them. Cases they looked into were dead ends. They all were.

Skulduggery looked at her. "Something's wrong."

* * *

 **Here it is, the multi-chap. Hoorah.**


	2. Scrabble

"I don't think that's a solid reason. It's hardly _a_ reason."

Skulduggery turned left, and Valkyrie slumped in the seat. Had they turned right, maybe Valkyrie could have visited her parents and Alice, swum in the pool, cleared her thoughts.

"You know," Valkyrie began, "it probably doesn't have to be investigated _right_ now. We could go and swim. Well, you could stand around and yell insults while Alice and I swim. It… It could be fun, you know?"

Skulduggery didn't look at her. "So, you're not concerned at all?"

"I didn't say that."

"You're not concerned that a man literally disappeared."

"We haven't ruled out he's a teleporter yet."

"You're not concerned that this man, who disappeared, is able to sneak into the Sanctuary undetected and steal the Resurrection Stone? Steal the Resurrection Stone with no discernable motive that we can fathom."

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. "You're just angry you didn't notice the paper."

"No, that's _another_ thing you should be concerned about. Why didn't I notice the paper? I notice everything; I daresay my observational skills are above average, perhaps even in the advanced range. What did the paper have to do with the Resurrection Stone?"

Valkyrie kept her gaze outside the window. She watched the Bentley overtake the mirages hovering over the pavement, but when the smug silence became too much for her, she looked at him.

"But it's _hot_."

"You didn't want to swim yesterday. You had the day off, and you just hung around my house and kept talking about the moth and what else the riddle could mean."

"Roarhaven gets so hot now, though. It's like the concrete just tries to bake you. It's awful."

"So, you would rather procrastinate than investigate the strange circumstances surrounding this case? Valkyrie?"

"No. You know I do. But I also want to swim."

"The sacrifices we must make are great and many."

Valkyrie grinned and he tilted his head toward her.

As they neared Roarhaven, Valkyrie looked out her window, watching as the sigils on the trees and pavement glowed as they whipped by them. Skulduggery had refused to have the matching symbols carved anywhere on his car; the sigils that lit up for the Bentley were especially made for _them_.

Roarhaven loomed. The wall had been dismantled, but another ring of sigils had been burned into the ground. Countless others, China had told her, were carved into numerous buildings. It was China's city, and she controlled every aspect of it through those looping designs.

Vampires looked down at the Bentley as they passed through the streets. Skulduggery clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

They had caught up to the van, and Skulduggery led one of the grunts down into the interrogation rooms. They hadn't originally been interrogation rooms, but Skulduggery had commandeered them, painted them white, and bought two very uncomfortable chairs for the table.

The grunt sat before them, back to the door, hands cuffed behind him. He did not look very intelligent. In Valkyrie's opinion, he looked like a statue had been given just enough life to walk around, but not enough to actually know what living entailed.

For instance, he probably didn't make good jokes. The most he could probably manage on a good day was a subpar knock-knock joke.

Skulduggery observed the man. Valkyrie stifled a yawn. Even in the cool of the Sanctuary, the heat still robbed concentration from her.

"What's your name?" Skulduggery asked. "I figured I would start out with an easy question. Something to get the ball rolling, get good grasp of your IQ. Do you think you can answer that?"

The man blinked once, slowly.

Valkyrie sighed. "I don't think he can."

Skulduggery shook his head. "I don't think you should count him out so quickly. You need to give us your name. We'll find it out, anyways, but it would make this whole process a little quicker. We have Sensitives waiting, and they're a lot less polite than us."

The man didn't even blink this time.

"Oh my God."

"Alright, then. What were you doing in the cave system?"

A hint of recognition flashed across the man's features. "The stone."

"What about the stone?"

"I have to guard it."

"From who?"

"You."

"Who are we?"

The man struggled for an answer. "The enemy. You want the stone. He told us to stop you."

Valkyrie frowned. "The man who disappeared? What's his name?"

A blank stare.

Valkyrie didn't roll her eyes, so that was a good thing. "Did he hire you to guard the stone?"

A stare.

Skulduggery leaned forward. "When were you born?"

Nothing.

"What was your mother's name? Where do you live? What was your first pet? What was your last meal? What's your friend's name? What was the net for? What is the last thing you remember?"

The man's features twitched, and he nodded at Valkyrie. "I was supposed to stop her from getting the stone. But then he left, and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to keep her from stopping the stone or just let him get away." He blinked. "She kicked me."

"I did. Why are you willing to tell us about your plans, but not your name?"

"No one told me not to."

Skulduggery pulled out his phone, sent a quick text, and within a few minutes a psychic entered the room. Valkyrie recognized her, but she had chosen a confusing name, and despite being on friendly terms with her, Valkyrie had no idea who she was.

Valkyrie had taken to calling her Janet in her head. It was too far gone to ask for Janet's name, now, and Valkyrie was—

"Nothing."

Valkyrie blinked, tuning back into the conversation.

Skulduggery tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

Janet frowned, taking her hands away from the man's head. She shook out her fingers, then tried again. There was a few moments of silence, Janet standing with her eyes closed, a look of deep concentration on her face. When she pulled away, she looked disturbed.

"There isn't… There aren't any memories. There's the van ride back, the cave, but before that… nothing." Janet started to reach up again, but she pulled away. "Either he's had his memory completely wiped, or these are some of the best mental barriers I've ever seen."

Valkyrie frowned. "There must be something before the cave. Is there anything about the man who was ordering him around?"

Janet shook her head. "No. Not even any emotions attached to the memory."

The man had settled his gaze on the far wall. Valkyrie wondered what he was thinking about. What did someone with no memories think about?

Skulduggery stood. "Check and see if his friend has a similar mind, though considering they both had the same intelligent look in their eyes, I'm assuming it's the same."

Valkyrie followed Skulduggery out of the interrogation room, nodding to Janet. They strode through the building, still so grand. China had toned down the feeling of pompousness, changing the suits of armor for tasteful sitting areas and practical work stations. A lot of the gold and jewels had been stripped away for abstract art.

Like her apartment, Valkyrie adored the changes.

"Psychic? Another Deacon?"

Skulduggery didn't answer for a moment. "I'm not sure yet."

"Maybe the disappearing guy was a really powerful psychic. That's how he got by us. He just made us forget he was there, and he slipped by."

"I still would have felt the disturbances in the air."

"Unless," Valkyrie said, "he made you _forget_ you felt the disturbances. Or maybe he's just working for the psychic."

"Why didn't I see the paper, then?"

Valkyrie laughed. "Are you still upset over that?"

"Shush."

They entered the throne room. China greeted them with a nod. The vampire in front of her, a scrawny looking girl, glanced over her shoulder, saw Skulduggery and Valkyrie. The vampire gave a quick bow to China and walked by, head down.

"Valkyrie, Skulduggery." China smiled, easing back in her throne. Tipstaff handed her a cup of tea. "Please, tell me we have some good news? Hopefully nothing to do with moths."

The Resurrection Stone floated from Skulduggery's pocket to China, hanging in the air until she took a sip, placed the saucer down, and took it. She examined it, turning it over in her hands.

"Any luck finding out how the breach in security happened?" Skulduggery asked, glancing at himself in the mirror and adjusting his tie.

"Unfortunately, nothing. The vampires don't have a clue. My students are going over the sigils in the Repository , but everything seems in order." China almost frowned. "Which is annoying."

"We found the cave. The password _was_ lampshade," Valkyrie said.

"That's stupid."

"I know. There were three men, two of which we have downstairs. No memories besides what was in the cave and the van. No motives, names, nothing."

"And the third man?"

Valkyrie didn't answer, and Skulduggery adjusted his tie once again. China raised an eyebrow, taking another delicate sip from her tea.

"Don't tell me the mighty Pleasant and Cain didn't catch their quarry."

Skulduggery cleared his throat. "It isn't as simple as that. He was commanding the other two, and they attacked us. He seemed to have written plans, which were unfortunately lost with his escape. It only took a moment, but in that short span of time, the third man… He disappeared."

"He disappeared?"

"It appears so, yes."

"Just like that? He stole this piece of trash," China held up the Resurrection Stone, "and then disappeared right in front of you?"

Skulduggery nodded once. "Yes."

Valkyrie smiled. "We're, uh, working on it."

"I would certainly hope so." China sighed, examined the stone in her hand. "I've been meaning to have this shipped to storage. It was once useful, before the science of Echo Stones had been perfected, but now? Who would steal this?"

"We were thinking a very budget-conscious villain," Skulduggery said.

"Villain seems a little strong," Valkyrie muttered. "His password was _lampshade_."

"Evil-doer, then."

China smiled. "Well, that has been thoroughly unhelpful. No one seems to know how this man got in, why he took what he did, how he got away… I'm happy the trend of unhelpfulness seems to be exponential. I'll have someone call you if any new information decides to present itself. So, I won't be calling."

"Well, she's grumpy," Valkyrie said as they left the room.

"It's to be expected. Someone broke into the Sanctuary. More importantly, they got by _her_ sigils. Her pride is at stake. I would be a little grumpy, too."

They sat in one of the simple yet elegant couches as they waited for Janet to get back to them. Valkyrie lost at a game of Scrabble, got a cup of coffee to ward away the late-afternoon weariness, lost another game of Scrabble.

"None of this makes any sense," Valkyrie finally said, playing a word.

Skulduggery took the phone back. "I told you. Something's wrong. Nothing's adding up. 'Ov' is not a word."

"Does this mean we have to research?" Valkyrie groaned. "We always research when we hit dead ends."

Skulduggery hesitated, played a word worth eighty points. "No."

"Really?"

"I'm lying. We're going to have to research."

* * *

 **Took way too long to get the next chapter up. Sor.**


	3. The Invisible Man

_Despite work from sorcerers such as Coal Atar, total concealment is not possible. Those within Cloaking Spheres can be detected by a skilled Elemental. Atar has hypothesized that shunting rapidly between realities can_

"Who is Coal Atar?" Valkyrie grumbled, shutting the book. "He's mentioned in most of these books."

"I arrested him once. His clothes turned invisible."

"Seriously?"

"I haven't told you that story? He took great inspiration from _The_ _Invisible Man_. But he killed a couple of people, as one does, and I ended up arresting him. He gave up when his clothes turned invisible." Skulduggery thumbed through his book. "Very few people are interested in disappearing completely. People hardly trust teleporters, let alone one who studies disappearing right in front them."

Valkyrie threw her book back onto the coffee table. They had camped out in Gordon's living room. They had attempted to remain in the study, but the stuffiness of the late-afternoon air had forced Valkyrie to grab an armful of books and move downstairs. Skulduggery had followed a few minutes later.

Now, Valkyrie was sprawled on the sofa, books covering her lower half, while Skulduggery was steadily working through his piles of encyclopedias surrounding his armchair.

"Can we recap?" Valkyrie asked, yawning.

"You can go ahead and talk," Skulduggery mumbled, grabbing another volume. "No guarantees I'll listen."

"Okay, so not a teleporter because you would have picked up on the rush of air. Not a Cloaking Sphere, as you probably also would have picked up on that. Not a secret tunnel. Maybe he wasn't real."

"You've cracked the case."

"I'm serious. We're working off of the opinion that I saw that paper on the desk, but what if you were the one who _wasn't_ hallucinating. Maybe Timothy is just a really powerful projection, and so was the paper, but you didn't see that because your not-eyes are more powerful than mine."

Skulduggery tilted his head. "I felt the air currents. There was someone _there_."

Valkyrie moved slightly under the pile of books, sending one thumping to the ground. "Maybe it was George and—and Basil."

"You named the bald one Barney."

"George and Barney, then."

Skulduggery shut his book. "Convivial called, and she said—"

"Who?"

Skulduggery looked at her. "We literally saw her a few hours ago. The Sensitive."

"Oh."

"You forgot her name, didn't you?"

"No."

"You did."

"Janet and Convivial sound really similar if you hear it under the right conditions. What did she say?"

"From what she and a few other Sensitives can pick up, they have no innate magical ability. However, they do have some form of magical presence in the world around them, but no one at the Sanctuary is quite sure how. It's all very interesting."

"Wait." Valkyrie sat up, reaching out to stop books from showering to the floor. "I shot a bolt of electricity at the bald one, and he didn't go down. I just figured he diverted it, but now that doesn't make sense. Were they wearing magical clothes?"

"Nothing that would divert your magic like that." Skulduggery tapped his fingers against the cover of the book he was holding. "Did you see their magic?"

Valkyrie frowned. "I guess I didn't. I didn't notice at the time. Which makes sense if they weren't magical to begin with. We should go back so I can get another good look at them."

Valkyrie stacked the books on the coffee table, stood, and stretched. Skulduggery watched her, and she raised an eyebrow.

"What did I forget?"

"It's Thursday."

"What? No, it's not. It's Tuesday." Valkyrie pulled out her phone. "It's Thursday. Wow, okay. Tomorrow, then? Or after dinner?"

Skulduggery shook his head, standing up, encyclopedia under his arm. "I'm going to make some calls, ask around. We can meet up tomorrow at the Sanctuary."

"I left the bike at your house."

"We can go together to the Sanctuary together, then."

Even this late in the afternoon, Valkyrie didn't want to leave the relative coolness of Gordon's house. Valkyrie grumbled and pulled Ghastly's clothes closer to her, hoping they would provide some relief. They did not; they only seemed to make her sweat more when she got into the sauna that was the Bentley.

Valkyrie started the engine and fiddled with the air conditioner. Skulduggery followed after her, carrying an armful of books. He placed them in the back of the Bentley and slid into the driver's side.

Valkyrie watched Gordon's green estate get caught in the fence surrounding the property, leaving only heat haze and pavement.

"Do you not want to go? I'm sure everyone would understand if you called and told them you were busy."

Valkyrie sighed. "No, I want to go. I do. Sometimes, I feel like Mum and Dad are the only people who keep me sane."

"And Alice?"

The Bentley rolled to a smooth stop at a red light. Valkyrie didn't answer until the intersection was far behind them.

"I love her. I really, really do, but she just makes things difficult. I love hanging out with her, but put her and Mum together and it's…" Valkyrie looked at him. "Do you want to come to dinner? You haven't been over in a while."

Skulduggery laughed.

Valkyrie grinned. "I'm serious."

"Last time, your mother nearly threw me out of the house."

"You told everyone we fought bears. You said a bear tried to eat my head."

"Yes, but at least I didn't say the bears were yetis, because that's what they actually were. I don't think tales of our adventures will exactly smooth things over between Alice and your mother." Skulduggery tilted his head, thinking. "I'll come over soon. I promise."

Valkyrie grunted. "You just don't want to be that awkward one who isn't eating."

"I don't want to be the only one with fabulously interesting stories." Skulduggery splayed his hands on the steering wheel. "I've fought in a secret war. And I'm funny. Do you know how hard it is being so witty only you laugh at your own jokes?"

"Maybe it's because you're the only one who understands your jokes." Valkyrie reached for the radio, but Skulduggery swatted her hand. "Oh, come on."

He harrumphed. "My conversation isn't good enough for you?"

 **...**

They rolled up to the pier—out of habit more than anything else—and Valkyrie insulted Skulduggery's taste in music one last time before heading toward her house.

Haggard was beginning on the long and winding path to becoming a seedy neighborhood. More closed storefronts greeted Valkyrie, and the road had more potholes than she remembered. The poverty lurked under the surface, and Valkyrie wondered if her parents would still be living here when it finally surfaced.

Valkyrie cleared her mind. This was her home. The houses were still well-kept and the lawns groomed, and the further she got away from the town, the further the thoughts of boarded up pizza shops got. In the gold of the sunset, the town still looked pretty.

Valkyrie caught sight of Alice floating around the pool, and Valkyrie walked around the house and watched her.

While Valkyrie had been strong and solid at sixteen, Alice was thin and lean. She did track during the school year, but she didn't share Valkyrie's love of swimming. Dark hair tied in a bun, Alice lounged on a pool float, sunglasses in place.

Valkyrie's eyes were drawn to the dark birthmark on Alice's chest. Valkyrie's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Steph!"

Valkyrie's eyes snapped back to Alice's face, and she smiled. "Dinner ready?"

Alice pulled the headphones out of her ears and sat up on the float. "I don't know. Get a bathing suit, come swim with me!" Alice perked. "Did you bring your bike? Can we go for a ride?"

"No, Skulduggery dropped me off. And Mom doesn't like me taking you for rides."

"She doesn't have to know. Come on." Alice slid into the water, bouncing across until she reached the ladder. "We can be gone and back before Mom even knows."

Valkyrie laughed, handing her the towel she had found on the patio table. "I don't—oh my God, what is that?"

Alice grinned, standing with her back to Valkyrie. "Like it?" Alice reached up, running a ginger hand over her shoulder blade. "It's an owl."

"It's also a tattoo."

"Yeah?"

"Does… Does Mom know about it?"

"What _doesn't_ she know about?" Alice rolled her eyes and grabbed the towel from Valkyrie's hands. "She fucking lost it. I mean, like, _lost_ it. I got it Saturday, when I said I was going over to Caite's, and she went on and on about how it was a breach of her trust in me, bla bla bla. It's tribal, like yours."

Valkyrie reached up and touched her left arm through her jacket. "It's pretty."

"Isn't it?" Alice grinned. "Tell Mom that. She hid the keys to the car, but I found them."

Valkyrie felt herself smiling along. "Don't let her know that."

"Steph!" Desmond greeted, opening the back door. "I was worried Alice's long-lost twin had finally reared her ugly head."

"I'm ugly?" Valkyrie asked.

"No, I think he was calling _me_ ugly," Alice said, wrapping the towel around herself.

Dinner was uncomfortable. Desmond and Valkyrie fought through it, telling ridiculous stories and laughing too loudly. Melissa didn't seem interested, and any time Valkyrie brushed on the topic of work, she would glance at Alice. Alice had decided the silent treatment was the best, though if she had asked Valkyrie, silence and secrets weren't going to fix anything.

"Do you and Skulduggery have a case?" Alice asked.

"We don't talk about work at the dinner table, Alison," Melissa cut it.

Mother and daughter fell into sullen silences.

Desmond smiled uneasily. "Would it hurt to let Steph talk? She only comes over once a week."

"I need a ride home," Valkyrie cut in. "Skulduggery dropped me off."

"I'll take her," Alice said quickly.

Melissa looked between them. "I'm not sure I trust—"

"I'll be fine," Alice interrupted. "I'll come straight home, please, I promise."

"No, Alison," Melissa said firmly.

"Oh, come on! What's the worst that could happen?"

"You could lie to me again."

Valkyrie stood. "No, it's okay. I can just grab a cab."

"It's my body; I can decide what's best for myself. Steph was already apprenticed to Skulduggery, I don't see—"

"Alice, we'll talk about this later." Melissa turned to Valkyrie. "You sure you'll be fine, Steph? I can give you a ride back."

"It's fine, really. Alice, call, yeah?"

It wasn't particularly fair of Valkyrie to just drop in, cause a fight, and then head off, but there wasn't much she could do. It was between Alice and her mother, and Valkyrie had promised to leave any decisions regarding Alice up to Melissa. Alice was her sister, but she was Melissa's daughter.

 _Hypocrite_.

Valkyrie frowned. Alice was her little sister, but she was also different than Valkyrie had been. She was quite content in school, with her friends, with the job at the Froyo place. Besides their mother, Alice seemed perfectly happy with her life.

 _Not that she knows anything else_.

Valkyrie pulled a face, and the cab driver asked if she was all right.

The lights were off at Skulduggery's house, and Valkyrie fumbled with the keys and let herself in. There were various books scattered around, and Valkyrie briefly skimmed over those opened to pages, squinting in the dark. Nothing new, at least to her.

Valkyrie threw her jacket on the table, started to unbuckle her pants—

"How was—"

"Fuck!" Valkyrie whirled around. "Jesus, Skulduggery! Why don't you just give me a heart attack? God damn!"

"Are you done?" Smile in his voice.

Valkyrie scowled and rebuckled her pants. "Yes."

"Why were you taking your pants off?"

"Well, I _was_ heading toward the laundry room to get pajamas."

"You can still take them off." Skulduggery turned the hall light on. "How was dinner?"

"Awful. I don't want to talk about it." Valkyrie walked by him, into the laundry room. She pulled off her shirt. "Alice got a tattoo, though."

"Oh?" The hall light shut off.

"Oh, yeah. Mum is seething. It's awful. Dad and I were just trying to keep everyone from freaking out." Valkyrie tugged off her sports bra, opened the dryer. "And then I had to run away."

"Very brave of you."

"Where did all the jerseys go? And if I stayed, Alice would have just kept dragging me into the argument. I was facilitating things by being there, really. I'll talk to Mom eventually, let her know I'm not dragging Alice into anything, and I'll buy Alice another pool or something."

Valkyrie kicked off her pants. She found a jersey and tugged it on, and found a pair of shorts. She would strip once she got to her room—she hated sleeping in clothes when she was hot.

"Did Alice ask about me?"

Valkyrie laughed and stepped back into the hallway. "Wow. Yes, she did. She wanted to know how the case was going, but I bailed after that."

Skulduggery was leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets. "Bright and early?"

Valkyrie gave a vague grunt of acknowledgement. She was already pulling off the shirt on the stairs, heard Skulduggery settling back into his armchair. She collapsed onto her bed, curled into the covers, and fell into sleep easily.

* * *

 **Comments/theories welcome.**


	4. Apollo 8

Valkyrie gasped and sat up, kicking the covers off the bed. She groaned, drawing her knees up and resting her forehead against them. It was still early—too early for her to really be out of bed. Covered in sweat, fueled with adrenaline, sleep wouldn't come back to her.

Valkyrie groaned and rubbed her eyes. She reached out, snagged the sheet, and wrapped it around herself. She stood and picked her way carefully through her room.

Valkyrie trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen. She leaned over the sink and drank from the faucet until she had cooled down.

"Glad to see you greet the day with your usual disregard for hygiene."

Valkyrie yawned in greeting. She began to rifle through the cabinets, wondering when they had last been shopping; most food she pulled down was expired. Finally, she chose the cereal that smelled least like cardboard and the carton of milk that seemed least likely to roll her stomach.

Skulduggery watched her from the middle of the kitchen, hands in his pockets. He hadn't changed suits yet, and Valkyrie wondered if he had just woken up.

"Coffee," Valkyrie said.

"Orange juice."

"Make me coffee."

"I don't like your tone. What are you doing up so early, anyways? Usually I have to tempt you out of bed with the promise of mystery and mayhem. Yet, here you are, wrapped in a bedsheet, scowling into your cereal."

Valkyrie didn't answer for a moment, shoving a spoonful of cardboard into her mouth. She chewed, giving him dirty looks until she swallowed. "I don't _enjoy_ mayhem. Everyone thinks I do. I like… anti-mayhem."

"Of course you do."

"I do!" Valkyrie pushed her cereal away. When he didn't answer, "And I think I had a bad dream."

"Oh?"

Valkyrie rubbed her forehead with the palm of her hand, frowning. "Yeah, it was weird, though. Nye was there. I was naked."

"You're usually naked."

"Shut up." Valkyrie leaned back in the chair and stretched her legs, yawning. "Well, either way, I'm up, so we might as well get going. Make me coffee and I'll get dressed." She stood.

"I still don't like your tone," he called after her.

Valkyrie took a quick shower, but her thoughts wandered. The dream ate at the edges of her mind. It was cold and clear and panic-inducing. She could remember more random facts about the dream—the table, the bright florescence, hands creeping down her torso—than she could the last few cases they had solved.

As she dried herself off, she had the strangest feeling she had dreamed it before.

Skulduggery was waiting by the Bentley, wearing a clean suit. He handed her a mug.

"You have a minute to drink it before I leave."

"But—"

"No drinks in the Bentley. You have fifty-three seconds."

Valkyrie protested her unfair treatment with silence in the car.

Skulduggery didn't seem to mind. He was thinking, and Valkyrie watched from the corner of her eye as his head tilted back and forth between options. His pointed finger tapped lazily along to whatever he was debating.

Today promised to be another hot one. Valkyrie was getting sick of the heat. It was still early enough where she could roll down the window and enjoy the breeze blowing back her hair. She let her hand play in the wind until the shadows of Roarhaven made her retreat.

"What happens if they're just really shoddy sorcerers and our visit was for nothing? Or they're mortals who were enchanted?" Valkyrie asked as she got out of the Bentley.

Skulduggery followed her into the Sanctuary. "We can still interrogate. They're one of our only leads. Or we can go back to the cave and see if the Cleavers missed anything."

"Caves," Valkyrie groaned.

"You know, I don't mind caves that much. I know they're not very original, but there's something so homey about them; the drafts, the bats, the water trickling down the walls, the monsters."

"Yeah, really cozy."

"I lived in a cave for a while."

"I… I'm not really sure what you want me to say to that. I'm not surprised." Valkyrie grinned when he turned his head sharply toward her. "Like, I know you like nice suits and everything, but you're definitely the type of guy who's spent a couple of months in a cave, naked, muttering to himself about society."

"Why am I naked in this scenario?"

"Because you would be."

"I'll have you know I wasn't naked. I was wearing one of the most stylish outfits of the day."

"Skulduggery, I've Googled what people used to wear then."

Skulduggery didn't answer, but he adjusted his tie as they strode. Valkyrie just kept looking at him, trying not to laugh. Eventually, he glanced at her.

"Suits are a marked improvement over the most stylish outfits I wore in the cave."

Valkyrie barked a laugh, but wiped the grin off her face as they approached the holding cells. There weren't very many new prisoners since the vampires had started working for China. People tended to keep their dirty business out of Roarhaven unless China oversaw. She also shipped out Skulduggery and Valkyrie's criminals as soon as their trial was over.

Skulduggery nodded to the mage who sat at the desk and led them through the cells. There were maybe only four people languishing, and some recoiled in fear when she and Skulduggery passed by. Valkyrie raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

They reached the end of the corridor. George and Barney were nowhere to be found. She looked and Skulduggery, who gave a little shrug and started back towards the guard. The two Cleavers by the doorway didn't seem concerned.

"Hello, good fellow," Skulduggery greeted, standing in front of the guard. "I'm sure you know my associate Valkyrie and I."

The guard looked up from his phone and blinked. "Er."

Skulduggery nodded. "Excellent. Two prisoners captured yesterday were to remain here until we were finished interrogating them."

The guard nodded slowly. "Okay."

Skulduggery continued nodding with the guard. "They're not here," he enunciated clearly.

A flash of irritation crossed the guard's face. "What were the prisoners' names?"

"They didn't have any."

Valkyrie cut in. "Well, that's not true. I named the one with hair George, and the bald one Barney."

"We haven't had any new prisoners," the guard said.

Skulduggery tilted his head. "We brought them in yesterday."

"I don't know what to tell you," the guard grumbled. "The most recent guy came in three weeks ago—"

"Three weeks?" Valkyrie frowned. "They arrived with a full Cleaver escort yesterday."

The guard grumbled and rifled through some paper work. When he wasn't going fast enough, Skulduggery grabbed the manila folder and flipped through the pages. Valkyrie read at his elbow, eyes flicking over the words. Skulduggery started turning faster than she could read, and she was about to ask him to slow down, but he shut the folder.

He looked at a Cleaver. "Order a full lockdown."

The Cleaver nodded and moved off.

Valkyrie moved back through the cells, checking for cracks. When she found no signs of escape, she turned back to Skulduggery and shook her head. He was leaning over the guard, asking rapid-fire questions.

"It's official in the paperwork," Skulduggery said lowly as they hurried toward China's throne room. "There's a rat in the Sanctuary."

"But _someone_ should remember. China has full control of the Cleavers, and they would be looking for George and Barney unless ordered directly not to. And the guard didn't seem—"

China had stepped out of her throne room and stopped when she saw Skulduggery and Valkyrie approaching. She looked thoroughly unamused.

"Just why am I calling a lockdown?" she asked when they neared.

"The prisoners escaped," Skulduggery said quickly.

"Oh yes, the prisoners. Even though you saw all five of them."

Skulduggery tilted his head. "You don't remember them either?"

"Either? Skulduggery, I thought this was a joke. I wasn't even aware you were coming in today, nor why you would be interested in some pond scum." China glanced between Skulduggery and Valkyrie.

Valkyrie frowned. "You don't remember the Resurrection Stone? The break in?"

"No," China said slowly. "Either all Sanctuary worker's memories were altered, or yours were. No new inmates have been admitted in months—none that you've brought it. Just a few bar fighters and vandals."

Skulduggery's head jerked back. "None? What about the vampire killer?"

China's eyebrows drew together ever so slightly. "Vampire killer?"

"The assassination?" Skulduggery prattled off the cases they had solved within the past few months, growing stiller and stiller the more China denied. When he came to the end of the list, he was silent for a few long moments, motionless. "Well," he said at last, "that's not good."

"No," China agreed.

"They can't just have _disappeared_ ," Valkyrie insisted.

"You're right," Skulduggery murmured.

"Janet would have been the last one to see them."

Skulduggery nodded and pulled out his phone, stepping away and calling her. Tipstaff had appeared at China's elbow, and she was issuing orders in a steady, low voice. Valkyrie whipped out her own phone, dialing Tanith.

"Val!" she greeted. "Is this a fun call or a business call?"

"Has you or anyone you know been having suspicious gaps in memory?"

"Business call, then." There was a jostling, like Tanith was resting the phone between her ear and her shoulder. "I've been freelancing; the Sanctuary is still grumpy about that whole business, so I can't really ask if they've been forgetting where their keys are. What's up?"

Skulduggery gestured with his hand, and Valkyrie walked with him.

"Everyone in the Sanctuary's forgotten how Skulduggery and I've saved the day the past few months. Everyone we captured has escaped and been forgotten about." Valkyrie stopped talking as they passed a group of mages. "We're trying to figure out where the most recent pair of bad guys went."

"What do you mean everyone at the Sanctuary?"

"Everyone. China, the paperwork, the Cleavers, they all seem to think we've been doing nothing the past few months."

"That's… pretty weird. Do you think you need me?"

Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery. "No, not yet. Call around, if you could. See if anyone feels like chatting."

"No problem, Val. How's Alice?"

"Angry and rebellious. Talk to you later, love you." Valkyrie hung up. "What did Janet say?"

Skulduggery stopped at one of the sitting areas, looking around. "She doesn't remember anything, either. She said she'd meet us here and check to see if we have any mental blocks in place, if the memories were implanted."

Valkyrie ran over this in her head, then looked at him. "She can't look through your thoughts."

He hesitated. "By 'me,' I meant you. She's going to check if _you_ have any implanted memories."

Valkyrie slumped into one of the chairs. "I hate when people look through my memories."

"When have you even had someone look through your memories before?"

Valkyrie opened her mouth, but her mind ran blank. She frowned, looking away from Skulduggery. Eventually, "It's just the idea of them having their fingers in your brain." It still bothered her more than it should have that she didn't have an answer.

Valkyrie looked back at Skulduggery. "You know, it's trouble if they can implant memories in your head. Means even _you_ can be fooled." Valkyrie leaned back in the chair, but Skulduggery remained standing.

"I don't think they can. I think it's the Sanctuary, not us."

"Why?"

Skulduggery shrugged. "We're too special."

"But the paper—"

"My dearest Valkyrie, I'm very observant. But sometimes, you trousers distract me from even—Convivial," Skulduggery greeted.

The woman walked up, blinking blearily at the two of them. "Hello." She shook out her hands, smiling quickly at Valkyrie. "What exactly am I looking for? You said I looked at someone yesterday but…"

Skulduggery nodded. "That's the trouble. Valkyrie and I remember bringing to justice two lovely gents who no one can remember. They had no memories before we interacted with them. They were huge. Mountain of men. They beat Valkyrie up."

Janet looked between the two of them. "So, I'm looking to see if they were real or not?"

Valkyrie frowned. "They didn't beat me up. But yeah."

Janet nodded and shook out her hands a couple more times. "How far back do you want me to dig?"

Valkyrie's hands were getting clammy. "I'm not sure. You're not really sure what you're looking for, or how much no one remembers for how far back. Or how many of my memories are fake."

Skulduggery nodded. "Use your best judgement. Anything that seems out of place, or that should be there but isn't."

Janet looked as scared as Valkyrie was becoming. Dear god, she was going to go diving into Valkyrie's brain without a clue of what she was looking for.

No, it was going to be fine. Janet, despite how nervous she got, was one of the better Sensitives in the Sanctuary. A quick poke around, make sure everything added up, and it would be like Janet hand't even been mucking around in her head.

Skulduggery adjusted his cufflinks. "And if you could avoid erasing her memories or giving her brain damage, I would appreciate it. I'd hate to have to train another one."

Valkyrie laughed as Janet stood in front of her. She rested her hands on either side of Valkyrie's head, and Valkyrie shot one last uneasy smile at Skulduggery.

"See you on the other side," she said.

The last thing she saw before her vision swam was Skulduggery tilting his head in her direction in a smile.

* * *

 **Comments, thoughts, theories welcome!**

 **They motivate me to update faster lol.**

 **And shout out to Heslen for having an amazing theory! I was really impressed like hella!**


	5. Puddles

Valkyrie was on the floor, and someone kicked her. Her body curled around the heavy boot and the breath left her. She managed to look up; all she saw was a man towering over her, face blurry and vague. He drew his foot back, and Valkyrie struggled to roll away.

Someone moved behind the man kicking her. She saw him strolling away. He wasn't holding paper. Why had she even noticed?

The foot swished over her stomach, she was on her back, covered in dust and looking at a net hanging over the floodlights. Another man fell nearby, and she heard Skulduggery's quick strides as he followed after the paperless man.

"It looks like another vampire did this," she said.

Skulduggery looked to his left, where Valkyrie supposed she was standing. Where she should be standing, but she was on the ground, next to a vampire. It didn't look like a vampire, it looked like a guy who drank tea and read books, and his throat was ripped open.

Valkyrie hopped up and frowned at the vampire.

"I still don't think we're even necessary," Skulduggery said, nudging the vampire with his foot. "No one complains when rats kill other rats."

"Wow, you're grumpy today."

Skulduggery opened his mouth, but the ground disappeared and Valkyrie dropped away from where Skulduggery was standing in thin air. Valkyrie yelled as she fell like a stone towards the water, the blue, blue water. It was suddenly a thousand degrees.

She hit the water and went under. Instead of white sand, there was endless, murky darkness. Hands clamped around her ankles and yanked her downwards. She held her breath as long as she was able, but water flooded her throat and she panicked. She could breathe under water as the stars became more distant.

Whatever was pulling her reached the bottom of the lake, and Valkyrie feet hit the mud. She blinked and she was in Ghastly's shop. Skulduggery was pulling out one of the rolls of fabric, holding it up to where Valkyrie was standing.

"You need to get a maid," Valkyrie heard herself say.

Ghastly's shop had grown a screen in the back, and the fuzzy remake of _Casablanca_ was playing. Skulduggery stood next to her and watched the actors gather around the piano. She had been asleep for this. A man wandered through the back of the scene, looking like he was illuminated with a stage light.

"You're going to rewatch the original. I know what you're going to do. And you're going to feel empty."

"You're really annoying."

Valkyrie looked over. It was dark, the streetlights playing orange across Skulduggery's façade. Someone in the back let out a muffled curse, and there was the wheezing of broken ribs. A terrible guitar played a note or two on the radio at random intervals.

"How can he look at you?"

The words made Valkyrie want to curl into a ball and cry. Skulduggery tensed next to her, and something about the movement made Valkyrie feel sick.

Skulduggery leaned forward and turned on the lamp on the dashboard. Valkyrie reclined her seat and her head found a pillow. She blinked up Skulduggery sitting at her side, and his head was tilted like he was listening for something.

"I know you don't sleep, but you don't have to mess up my sleep cycle too."

"I was meditating."

"So?"

He didn't answer, but he sagged. Valkyrie sat up, reached out—

The bed lurched violently, and Valkyrie fell awkwardly to her knees as the world rearranged itself around her.

 _How_ can _he look at you?_

The world slipped away and Valkyrie was in the Bentley, but the smell of leather was overpowering and comforting. Something whined in the back seat, but Valkyrie's eyes were on Skulduggery hands.

"Are you sure you want to come back? Not that everyone at the Sanctuary hasn't been clamoring for your presence, but I've grown used to going out on my own. You don't slow me down anymore, you know? And I get punched much less when I don't have to constantly save you."

"The last time we talked on the phone, you offered to fly over and 'pick me up."'

"I didn't expect you to _actually_ want to come back. I thought you would let me save the world without your hindrance."

"You are such a…"

 **...**

Valkyrie's eyes opened and Janet lurched away.

"Oh, God, sorry, sorry!" Janet rubbed her hands on her skirt. "I—"

Skulduggery stepped forward, placed a hand on Valkyrie's shoulder. She blinked up at him, her thoughts muddled like she was drinking on an empty stomach. It took her a moment to drag the last few hours together in her brain.

"Valkyrie, are you okay? You do remember you're Valkyrie, right? If you don't, I'm Skulduggery, and you're my combat accessory, and you need me to help you figure things out, because you're rather—"

Valkyrie laughed. "What, rather slow? You need a new joke."

"You might not remember right now, but you find me hilarious."

Valkyrie focused on Janet. She was still wiping her hands on her skirt, looking between Skulduggery and Valkyrie like she expected them to bite her head off. When she caught Valkyrie looking at her, Janet stilled her hands.

"I'm sorry."

A headache was starting to spread from her temples. Valkyrie grimaced. "How far deep in my head did you go?"

"I—I didn't mean to. I was, well, I was going back through your memories and then I…" She looked at Skulduggery quickly. "Well, I panicked, and your brain sort of took over, and I pushed it a little further than I meant to get away from the memory and…" Janet took a quick breath.

Skulduggery's hand hadn't moved from her shoulder. "What is this memory we're all dancing around?"

"It's when you had a nightmare that one time." Valkyrie looked back at Janet. "Was there anything unusual? Out of place? Janet, focus."

Janet opened her mouth and then shut it. She squeezed her fingers in one hand; Valkyrie wanted to tie her hands together. Maybe it would help the girl calm down. Skulduggery seemed to be having the same thought, and he snapped his fingers.

Janet blinked. "Okay, well, I don't think so? Everything seemed normal. The details on the memories from the prisoners match up to your timeline. There was the expected amount of detail loss with a fight."

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. "But…?"

"Well, it's just that it… it felt jumpy." Janet frowned. "If I could get another poke around, I might be able to tell more. But it felt like you were missing something. Something big, but you—you were just missing something." And almost to her self, "And you seemed so sad…"

"Sad?" Skulduggery asked.

Janet blinked. "I don't know why. But the further back I got. And Alice?"

Valkyrie's stomach lurched. "What about Alice?"

"I, I mean I don't know. You were thinking about Alice. In the pool?"

"I thought we told you to only look around the cases," Valkyrie snapped, impatience getting the better of her. Janet recoiled "Sorry. Thank you, for doing that."

Janet smiled uneasily. "Did I help?"

Valkyrie stood. "We'll see. We'll give you a call if we need anything else."

China met them back at her throne room. She seemed annoyed as she ordered people in and out. There seemed to be endless groups of people who huddled at the doorway and sent in representatives to speak quickly with China. Finally, when the rush died down, she turned to Skulduggery and Valkyrie.

She smiled. "Any more good news?"

Skulduggery straightened. "Not at all. Convivial the Sensitive has looked through Valkyrie's mind, and according to her memories, there were in fact prisoners brought here. Since Valkyrie and I share the same memories, I can't help but think it's the Sanctuary that's been tampered with."

"That's a little egotistical, even for you. It's you two against just about everyone else."

Skulduggery shrugged. "I have a fancy brain. No one I've encountered has been able to influence my thoughts, so I'm working off of that assumption. Has anyone corroborated with our version of events?"

China leaned back slightly in her chair, and Valkyrie watched the way she forcibly relaxed her posture. "No one. I have people making calls to those on vacation or who weren't in the past few days, but no one seems to remember your string of adventures."

"And the lockdown?"

China sighed, ever so slightly. "There's no need. Whoever it was you brought in is long gone. All confidential material has been restricted to those only essential and who I have the upmost faith in."

Skulduggery tilted his head.

"And by faith, I mean sigils binding them to me." China smiled. "Solve this mystery for me, if you would, detectives."

Valkyrie led the way through the Sanctuary, not really thinking about where she was going. Skulduggery kept pace with her, eventually touching her elbow and gesturing towards a hallway. Valkyrie grunted and turned down it.

It was one of the numerous exits out of the Sanctuary, tucked away and probably hidden when foreign dignitaries visited. Valkyrie opened it and walked out into an oven. She let out a groan and slowed her walk.

"You're upset," Skulduggery commented, leading slowly back to the Bentley.

"What gave it away?"

"You didn't have that same skip in your step."

"Why did you ask _her_?" Valkyrie muttered. "She's petrified of going into people's heads. We couldn't have asked, I don't know, anyone else?" She reached up and touched her forehead. "My head's pounding."

Skulduggery shrugged. "She's powerful. Finbar and Cassandra specialize in other areas. Convivial—"

"Janet."

"Is one of the best potentials in her field."

Valkyrie scowled. "She hurt my head."

"I'm sure you'll recover. Of course, now we know that you might also be compromised. So we begin the fun process of screening you to make sure you're actually Valkyrie Cain, and not an imposter."

"I'm still grumpy."

"I'm still hilarious. What memories did she go over?"

Valkyrie opened the Bentley's door and sat down. She closed her eyes and concentrated, gritted her teeth. Skulduggery started the car and moved it smoothly out of the parking lot. Valkyrie turned on the air conditioner and aimed the vents at her face, hoping the cold would drive away the headache.

"The cave, the vampire, the Bahamas, Ghastly, the movie…" Valkyrie opened her eyes, glanced at Skulduggery. "Did I miss any? Is that chronological?"

Skulduggery tilted his head back and forth. "Yes. At least according to—"

"Oh, wait." Valkyrie chewed her lip. "That guy in the cave didn't bring the paper with him. All that paper on the desk? It was there when we started fighting, but the guy left it."

Skulduggery glanced over at her. "You interrupted me."

Valkyrie couldn't help the corner of her mouth that rose. "Yeah?"

"So, you _are_ compromised."

"Just because I didn't see him bring the paper with him doesn't mean it wasn't there. Maybe my memory just altered it because you said you didn't see any paper." Valkyrie wiggled her fingers.

"And there was something else Janet wasn't telling us. We'll figure out what that is later, but what it means is that we have to go on my memory of events alone. You can help, of course, but we have to take everything you remember with a grain of salt." He considered. "You could hold things for me."

"What?"

"Like a helpful table that can walk after me. And punch people."

Valkyrie smiled. "Thanks." Valkyrie sank down in the seat, sweating despite her clothes. "I wonder what else she saw in my head."

"It scared her."

"It did? I don't think I'm that scary. We didn't even punch anyone in the…" Valkyrie ran over the resurfaced memories. "I… don't think. I don't know when some of these are from." Her head throbbed. "God, why do I feel like we've been through this already?"

"In what way?"

"I'm not sure. Déjà vu. Happened this morning, too."

Skulduggery shook his head sadly. "Compromised."

"Ugh. More people with their fingers in my head. Everyone's heads. Is there even a Sensitive powerful enough to wipe the whole Sanctuary's memory? That's… That's pretty crazy."

"Considering they also got to the paperwork without anyone noticing them, and they also managed to bypass the Cleavers' helmets, we're looking at a group of very coordinated people with intent unknown. Possibly powerful Sensitives."

"But what's the point? They aren't stealing anything, and they aren't killing anyone really, they're just, like, _messing_ with us." Valkyrie sighed. "So, what, we're checking the cave, China is checking the Sanctuary. What if nothing turns up?"

Skulduggery turned on the radio. "We work the case."

"I guess we could cross-reference everyone's memories, check to see if Tanith or Fletcher remember things differently. See if Tanith gets any information. But even then, everyone might just not remember." Valkyrie changed the radio station before Skulduggery could stop her. "This is annoying."

"Very."

"How far back do you think it goes? Can we even figure that out?"

Skulduggery didn't answer for a moment. "We'll call Finbar."

 **...**

Valkyrie opened her eyes and cursed. She had fallen asleep, and Skulduggery had abandoned her with the car. She ripped off her jacket and threw it in the backseat. She opened the door and slid out, scowling when the air was no cooler.

She trudged over to Skulduggery, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but froze.

"You're kidding me."

The cave was gone.

* * *

 **Thoughts, theories, and comments welcome! :D**

 **They help me write faster, and I love seeing what you guys have to say. ^^**


	6. Young Avengers

Valkyrie doesn't wake up until the third mile. Usually, she ran later in the day, burning up any leftover adrenaline. However, it had been painfully slow at the Sanctuary, and the last time she had run in the afternoon, she only made it a mile before she had called Skulduggery to pick her up.

So, she had hauled herself out of bed at five-thirty, stumbled down the stairs, and run. She didn't feel the ache in her legs until the sun crept its way around the curve of the Earth. Already the air was heavy, her top and shorts sticking to her.

The worst unprecedented heat wave in the last century; of course Valkyrie was alive for it.

Valkyrie did her seven mile loop, and she was just opening the door when her phone rang. She took a few deep breaths and answered.

"Valkyrie Cain."

"Val," Billy Mercurial greeted.

Valkyrie grinned. "What are you doing calling me?" She kicked off her shoes, waving a quick good morning to Skulduggery.

"Well, I have something interesting, if you're not too busy running."

"I'm not running," Valkyrie said quickly. Skulduggery pointed to her shoes, and then over his shoulder toward their training room. Valkyrie nodded and sat on the ground, pulling her shoes back on. "What's up?"

Valkyrie followed Skulduggery into the training room. He tilted his head when she entered and settled into fighting position.

"Anything interesting?"

Valkyrie stretched quickly, wincing when a bruise on her stomach complained. "I think it's worth looking into, if we have nothing better to do. Plus, it's inside, so there's that. Cool, air conditioned." Her mouth twisted. "It's a murder, though."

"The price we pay for modern comforts."

But of course, Valkyrie's luck being ever on the uptrend, the apartment was cramped, tiny, and sans air conditioner. Valkyrie tugged off her jacket, scowling at Skulduggery as he led her through the upturned furniture.

The place was a mess. Whoever had attacked Beleaguer Menta had not done a very good job of it.

"Thoughts?" Skulduggery murmured.

"No signs of forced entry, so either Mr. Murderer knew her, had a key, or he knocked and she answered." Valkyrie looked around. "She ran from him, and he chased her through the kitchen, knocked over all this lovely furniture." Valkyrie's eyes followed the path of destruction to the closed door. "Into there," she said finally.

"Into there," Skulduggery agreed.

They stepped carefully over broken plates and displaced books. Valkyrie hated murder scenes; she preferred finding bodies in the woods, in an alley, not in the home. There was something so sad about seeing someone's house, knowing it would be empty soon.

Beleaguer liked to read, and she liked to write. There was paper everywhere, scattered from folders, and books like tombstones on shelves or crowded desks. A computer was abandoned on the coffee table; the screensaver was going. Bubbles floated across a PDF file.

It seemed to take forever for them to reach the door, and Valkyrie knew what was coming when Skulduggery turned the handle.

The smell hit her like a fist. Valkyrie grimaced and took a quick step back, breathing through her mouth and bracing herself. She followed Skulduggery into the room, wincing. It had taken a day for the smell to seep to the apartment above, but she—it had festered in the tiny, dark room for _hours_.

Beleaguer lay on her back. Valkyrie squinted in the semi-darkness, unsure if she should lift the blinds and let the morning light in or not. Even in the gloom, Valkyrie could see the deep stab-wound in her side, the blood that had dripped down Beleaguer's pants.

Skulduggery walked carefully around the body, and Valkyrie crouched. Slashes on the hand—Beleaguer trying to defend herself. More stabs around the neck and face. Valkyrie had to stand and look away for a moment.

Valkyrie's gaze fell on the floor, on the blank paper, on the dark, red-black blood that had dried onto the carpet. She followed the pools to Beleaguer's wrist. The hand was gone.

"Why would he try to cut her hand off when she was still alive?" she asked, voice too loud in this small place.

"Maybe he didn't want to kill her," Skulduggery said, attention on the desk, sifting through the books.

"He certainly stabbed her a lot for not wanting to kill her. I'm waiting outside."

Valkyrie walked quickly through the apartment, and she heard the chirp of birds, hungry and lonely. She ducked under the police tape and nodded to the Sanctuary guard as she strode past.

Outside, the air was muggy and thick. Valkyrie tugged on her jacket and let out a miserable, little noise. Ghastly's clothes might as well have been made of cotton the way they seemed to soak up the heat.

The town was rundown—the normal for hidden sorcerers. The residents passed her on the street, shooting Valkyrie and the building dirty looks. Sick of them, Valkyrie let her eyes close and imagined clouds amassing in the distance, heavy and dark with rain.

Eventually, Skulduggery made his way down from the apartment. He unlocked the Bentley and they got in. A notebook landed in Valkyrie's lap, and she flipped through it as Skulduggery started the car for the AC. They sat idling.

"Seems kind of familiar."

Skulduggery tapped his fingers slowly against the steering wheel. "Hm?"

"Nothing." Valkyrie flipped through the rest of the notebook quickly. "There's nothing written in here. Actually, there wasn't anything written _anywhere_. She was an author, but all I saw were lots of books and lots of blank paper."

"Right. Seems a little strange, doesn't it?"

"The whole thing was weird." Valkyrie sighed. "So, Mr. or Ms. Murderer barges in, chases her around the apartment, traps her in—would you call it a study? The study, stabs her in the side, gets her on the ground, cuts her hand off, kills her…"

"He started cutting off her hand, then killed her, then finished cutting off her hand. The stump of the hand," Skulduggery lifted one hand and twisted his wrist, "was uneven. He started, stopped, and was calmer cutting off the rest of the hand."

Valkyrie frowned and opened the notebook once again. "She must have been writing _something_. Do you think it was secret stuff?"

"Secret stuff?"

"You know: confidential, scary secrets people with knives wouldn't want out in the world." Valkyrie remembered the bubbles, and she felt bad for a moment. "Do you know if she published anything? Billy didn't mention anything specific."

Skulduggery shook his head. "Not off the top of my head, I don't."

"We can check a library."

"Usually, I'm all for encouraging you to practice your severely lacking reading skills, but I think it might be quicker to ask someone who knew her."

Valkyrie thought. "Oh, God, I don't have to _comfort_ a sister or someone, do I? I'm so bad at it. Skulduggery, people _hate_ me when I try to make them feel better. And you can't do it, so what are we even going to do?"

"I can comfort people," Skulduggery said, looking over at her.

"You really can't."

"You're annoying. After she was identified, her friends and family were called. It probably won't be long until someone comes to see the body, collect personal artifacts, cry…"

"Ugh. I feel bad, and everything, but… Ugh."

"Indeed. It's your turn on Scrabble, by the way."

They played on Valkyrie's phone until it ran out of battery, then switched to Skulduggery's. Valkyrie kept an eye out on everyone entering and leaving the building, and it only took an hour before a woman stumbled out of the building, looking sick.

"I think we have our first contender," Valkyrie muttered and opened the door.

The woman sat on the steps of the apartment building, arms around her stomach. She looked at the cracked sidewalk, dazed and confused. Valkyrie casually walked up to her, standing near the rusted railing of the stairs. She cleared her throat when the woman didn't look up.

The recognition was instant. "Valkyrie Cain."

Valkyrie tried a smile. "The one and only."

The woman swallowed, started to look over her shoulder but stopped. "Are… I assume you're investigating Be's—" She cut off. "Investigating it, then." She covered her face with her hands.

Valkyrie glanced over at the Bentley before returning her attention to the woman. "I'm sorry. You were close?"

"We were. She… Yes. Sorry. God, sorry. He wouldn't let me in the room, but he let me get some things. Look around." She hid her face again. "God."

Valkyrie's hand hovered over the woman's shoulder, but she decided against the gesture.

There were a few awkward minutes, but finally the woman looked up, nose running and eyes red. "Sorry. You have… I'm sure you have questions for me?"

"I do. What did Beleaguer write about?"

"She collected things on recent events. I… I didn't really ask about it, it was work and it was home. She went away for a while—New Zealand, stuff like that. Politics, now, because nothing was really happening." The woman shook her head. "Not… Nothing to get her _killed_ ," her voice cracked at the last word.

"Her most recent work?" Valkyrie prompted.

"Just some stuff on Necromancers, what happened to their temples." The woman hugged her stomach. "She said she was safe. She always— _always_ said that. Because it was afterwards, you know? Never… Never in the middle of anything." Her words were getting softer; shock.

"Did she interview anyone?"

"She hadn't gotten that far yet. It was just the preliminary stuff, background, figuring it all out. Who she should interview. It… doesn't make any _sense_. Does it?"

Valkyrie looked away from the woman. "It doesn't. Is there anything you can think of? Anything strange she's said recently? Emailing, texting anyone strange?"

The woman looked lost. "No. No one. Nothing."

Valkyrie digested this. "Do you know where Beleaguer kept her research?"

She was getting quieter, looking at the sidewalk again. "In the study."

Skulduggery needed to hear this, but Valkyrie felt terrible just walking away. "Look, if you need anything, you can call me, all right?" Valkyrie typed her number into the woman's offered phone, sent herself a text, and handed it back to her. "If anything comes to mind, if you're concerned with your safety…"

"Thank you," the woman said numbly.

"Well?" Skulduggery asked when Valkyrie collapsed into the cool car.

"Nothing. She did politics, according to the girlfriend. Some Necromancer stuff, no interviews though, covered some of the stuff that happened in New Zealand." Valkyrie chewed on her lip. "Was there anything in the study?"

Skulduggery put the car into gear and pulled away from the gear. "A body."

Valkyrie allowed a quick smile. "Research. The girlfriend said it was in there."

"No, just blank notebooks like the one I gave you."

"All right. Okay, well, it could just be random." Valkyrie nodded. "It probably was—just a mortal, broke into a random, shabby apartment. Takes the hand as a trophy. The notebooks could be written in that ink. The, uh…" Valkyrie snapped her fingers. "Gnome ink, or whatever."

Skulduggery nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. Of course, I know it's called Gambit Ink, but you can't be expected to hit every mark. It should be relatively easy to find something to reveal the ink at a shop, but the real issue is if there isn't any writing."

"Think of the positive: maybe there _will_ be writing."

"And if that writing reveals nothing new or helpful? I'm almost certain digging into Necromancers nowadays wouldn't warrant an assassination, let alone such a strange one." Skulduggery changed gears quickly, movements sharp.

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

Skulduggery sighed. "I can't help but feel I'm forgetting something."

* * *

 **I love your guys' reviews. You ask all these questions that I would totally answer, but they literally reveal huge things lol.**

 **Anyways, thoughts, theories, comments welcome! They motivate me! :)**


	7. Hodgie's

"Fieldtrip," Skulduggery announced happily.

Valkyrie blinked at the ceiling of the Bentley, disoriented. She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep, and she allowed herself a moment of embarrassment before she sat up. They were at the Sanctuary. As soon as the sun bouncing off of the Sanctuary's façade hit her eyes, she groaned and sank back down into her seat.

"Fieldtrip?" she repeated.

"You're getting very good at that." Skulduggery shut off the car.

"Good at what?"

"Repeating what I'm saying. You're like a parrot. It's great for my self-esteem, I have to admit it." He looked at her. "Notebook."

Valkyrie stared back, refusing to ask the question. The silence stretched.

Finally, "Notebook?"

Skulduggery nodded. "You deserve a cracker."

"Notebook?" she snapped, sitting up. The sun hit her cheek like an open oven. "What notebook?"

"The one you're lying on. The notebook that could be considered 'evidence.' That notebook."

Valkyrie looked down and cursed. "Oh. Oh, shit. I remember now." She arched her back in the seat and pulled the notebook from under her. She smoothed out the pages. "What did I do to this thing?"

Skulduggery shut the car off. Valkyrie groaned again. She watched Skulduggery get out, wait a brief moment for her to follow, then move off. She waited as long as she possibly could before she opened the door and followed after him into the Sanctuary.

The notebook was as blank as before. She ran her hands over the paper, observed the thickness. Skulduggery must have watched her from the corner of his eye.

"It's a regular notebook."

"But it's like it's brand new." Valkyrie frowned. "But it's not. Look, the pages are wrinkled—not from me, and there are stains from coffee. She definitely _used_ it. Do you think Mr. Murderer erased whatever was there before he left?"

"Not enough time."

"He had at least twelve hours before the neighbors reported the smell."

Skulduggery led the way to the science wing. "There are dozens of documents the murderer would have had to gone through. As of right now, pre-research—"

"Again?"

Skulduggery looked at her and tilted his head. "What are you talking about?"

Valkyrie shrugged.

"As of right now, pre-research, we don't know anything that could go through that amount of paper and delete all traces. To be perfectly honest, I've never heard of anything like this."

"Maybe it's like a book-burning?" Valkyrie held open the door for Skulduggery to pass by her into the lab. "Modern day version?"

"The Necromancers would have no _reason_ to want to hide this information. It's been almost two decades since the Necromancers were disbanded. I doubt they even have the resources to hear about anyone like Beleaguer, let alone get someone to her, murder her, and destroy all her research."

"It might be a colleague."

Skulduggery put his hands on his hips and surveyed the lab. There were a few whitecoats ghosting around the tables, but most people seemed to be off in search of cooler corners.

"Authors aren't known for being the most bloodthirsty of types. Notebook?" He held his hand out, and Valkyrie obliged. "I love fieldtrips."

Skulduggery settled himself down at a lab bench. Valkyrie stood behind him, watching as he flicked through the notebook to a clean page. He examined it, head tilting this way and that. There were various tools scattered about—untouched from where Skulduggery had left them last—and he picked up a tweezer, lifted a page.

"Wow," Valkyrie breathed.

"Your voice distracts me," Skulduggery mumbled.

"Wow, it's a page."

"Appreciate this lesson on observation."

"I'm appreciating the notebook, Skulduggery."

Skulduggery flicked to the next page, repeated the process with the tweezer. Valkyrie watched him for as long as she was able.

"You're fidgeting."

"I'm bored. What are you looking for?"

"Indents from previous writing."

"Oh."

She watched him. Her stomach growled.

"Valkyrie, you may be one of the most interesting and brilliant people I've known, but you can also be one of the most annoying people I've ever had the pleasure of standing directly behind me and breathing on my neck."

"Sorry my eyes can't detect minute scratches in the—Convivial." Valkyrie blinked as the other woman passed by, head down, walking quickly. Valkyrie watched her leave the lab, barely opening the door before slipping out. "What is she doing here?"

"You remembered her name. You've made a friend."

"Shut up. I'll be right back."

Valkyrie walked through the lab, hips bumping the abandoned chairs. By the time she reached the door, Convivial had disappeared down one of the corridors. Valkyrie guessed right. She glanced down the hallways as she passed, and it was by pure chance she caught sight of Convivial's hair.

"Convivial!" Valkyrie called, hurrying after.

The sensitive stopped at a junction, looked around for a panicked second, turned to face Valkyrie. Valkyrie slowed, suddenly unsure, held up a hand in weak greeting.

"Haven't seen you in a while."

Convivial smiled, strained. "Valkyrie!" she said, voice high. "You saw me the other day."

Valkyrie's mouth twisted as she tried to remember the past few days. Was it yesterday or the day before she had lounged with Alice in the pool? This week or last she had seen her sister's tattoo? Since the nightmare?

Valkyrie blinked. "I guess so. How've you been?"

"Good. I've been—I've been having some headaches." She reached up and touched her temple. "Some friends in the labs have been helping me figure some things out. It's been… confusing."

Déjà vu danced around the edges of Valkyrie's mind. "Hey, when did we last—" Her phone rang, and Valkyrie held up a finger as she answered. "Valkyrie Cain."

"Valhalla!"

Valkyrie smiled. "Finbar."

Convivial inched away, and she nodded quickly to Valkyrie before dashing away. Valkyrie watched her retreating, ducking around another corner. She retraced her steps towards Skulduggery.

"Valkyrie," Finbar said, voice distant and smile in his tone. "Valkyrie, it's been an age! Man, the kid's been missing you like crazy. He's always askin' about you, wondering where his aunt Valkyrie's been."

"I'm not his aunt."

"Hm? Oh, no. That wouldn't make much sense, would it? You're like, what, around fifty? My parents would be mortified. So would Sharon's."

"I'm nowhere near fifty."

"Your mind, though. Old soul, that's what I would bet. Like, total old soul. Your soul's seen some things." Finbar reflected on Valkyrie's soul for a moment. "But the kid doesn't believe in souls. He's all about the _physical_ , you know?"

"I've never met your son."

Valkyrie stuck her head into the lab, checked on Skulduggery. He hadn't appeared to move. She leaned against the wall outside the door. She could be doing something useful, but it had been awhile since she and Finbar had talked.

"Not in-person, but in your dreams, maybe. Not that he would believe that." Finbar laughed. "He's the most serious kid I've ever met. He wants to be an accountant. He nearly gave Sharon a heart attack when he told her where he wanted to go to college."

Valkyrie grinned. "Why did you call?"

A pause on the other end. "I was returning your call."

"I didn't call."

"Mm, no, you called. Left a message on the answering machine. Something about… about… George?"

"I don't know a George."

"And something about nightmares."

Valkyrie opened her mouth and shut it. "When did I call?"

"Uh, man, I dunno'. Maybe a week ago? Thought you were going to visit, but you never showed. Sounded like that on the message." Finbar hummed. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah. Fine. Tired, no sleep, hot. Murders. The same." Valkyrie rubbed her eyes with her free hand.

"You should visit," Finbar said, and something banged in the background.

Valkyrie's heart jumped to her throat. "What?" she asked quickly.

"Visit. I feel like something will happen."

Her first reaction was to make an excuse—any excuse, perhaps a family function, work, but she pushed that silly part of her away. Some stupid thing she dreamed, a nightmare, one of many she hadn't been aware she had been having, maybe just now in the Bentley. Stupid, stupid.

 _Overreacting_.

"Sure. I'll see when we're free."

Valkyrie hung up. She stared at the opposite wall for a long moment, tried to recapture that fear. Her jacket was annoying her, and she shrugged out of it, folded it, unfolded it. Whatever she had just been thinking of escaped from her, and a headache pounded against her eyes.

"Ugh."

She rested against the wall, neck pressed against the cool tile, heat making her head swim. Her muscles ached, but besides the workout with Skulduggery earlier, what had she—

"Are you okay?"

Her eyes snapped open, and she stood straighter. "Yes, sorry. How long was I standing here?"

Skulduggery shrugged. "Twenty minutes. I came to find you when you didn't reappear with a sandwich. How did the chat with Convivial go?"

"Who?" Valkyrie asked, shoving her arms back in her jacket.

"Janet."

"Oh. Fine, I guess. She's weird. She's scared of me, I don't know." She tied back her hair, and she felt a little better with the air on her neck. "Finbar called. I guess I left him a message last week. He wants us to visit."

"You don't want to?"

Valkyrie looked up sharply. "What? No. No, it's just with the new case. And the heat. His kid wants to be an accountant." She closed her eyes for a second. "Anything on the notebook?"

"It was written on, but I can't make out the text. Back to square one. Who, what, why, how." Skulduggery was still. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, voice soft. "You were dreaming in the car."

"Nightmare?" Valkyrie asked.

Skulduggery hesitated, stepped closer. "We don't have to take this case. If you're not feeling up for a murder, there have been rumors of a break-in to the London Sanctuary. Rumors about a cult in America. We could take a trip to cooler weather, if you want. A dragon cited somewhere in Russia."

Valkyrie smiled. "I'd be up for a dragon."

"It could try to eat you, too."

"It's just not making sense, this whole case. I want it to. I _want_ to figure it out. But leads? We don't have anything. We'll have to ask her family, friends. Read her previous words, figure out some connection." Valkyrie frowned. Her stomach rumbled.

Skulduggery looked at her.

 **…**

Valkyrie grinned. "Three scoops, please. Mint, mint-chocolate chip, chocolate. Waffle cone."

Skulduggery paid the man, and Valkyrie took her treat and gave it a long lick. They wandered away from the stand, and there was nothing better than the cone in her hand.

"Oh, I needed this." She took a bite, winced at the brainfreeze. "I think it even got cooler out. They say it's going to rain within the next week. Finally, some good news."

"You have ice cream on your nose."

Valkyrie was too busy devouring. Skulduggery's façade raised an eyebrow, and they sat on a bench and watched the queue grow and ebb. Valkyrie recognized a few of Alice's friends, and she and Skulduggery moved farther away.

It was nice here. It was lightly wooded, but close enough to the road so there was a steady stream of people. In the early-evening, the crowd had grown. Children ran around the trees, faces covered with filth. Picnic benches scattered around. It smelled like earth and summer.

Valkyrie had almost forgotten places like this existed. It reminded her of the pier, the beach, people relaxing and enjoying one another's temporary company.

"I cannot believe you ate that whole thing."

Valkyrie crunched on the cone. "It was really good."

"The whole thing. I didn't think anything outside of a cow could eat something of that size."

"Why a cow?"

"Cows have four stomachs."

Valkyrie frowned. "Are you saying I remind you of a cow?"

"I think a dissection would be in order, if you wanted an accurate answer. I assumed you only had one stomach, but I could always be wrong. I've seen you eat whole pizzas."

"That was one time! I hadn't eat in like, two days! Let it go."

"It was a whole pizza. That's almost as disturbing as three scoops of ice cream. You sicken me."

Valkyrie laughed, and Skulduggery smiled back at her.

Her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Valkyrie? It's me, Zalla. Zalla Dane, Beleaguer's—her, I was her girlfriend."

Her mirth evaporated. "Yes. Is everything all right?"

Skulduggery touched her shoulder.

There was a breath from the other side. Valkyrie couldn't decide if it was sad or angry, but it made her heart twist. "Is everything okay?"

"Something happened. Everything is gone. Gone, all of it." A sob that didn't seem to connect with the dead words. "Where did it all _go_?"

"What happened?"

Silence, muffled, a hand over the receiver.

"Zalla, I need you to answer."

"The research—I figured that was gone for a reason. But not all of it. Not all of it. Why, why, why? What did she do? Texts, even the letters."

Valkyrie swallowed. "What happened?"

"Everything she's written is gone. It's like she was never here."

As she cried, all Valkyrie could do was look at her phone.

* * *

 **Omg, I took too long to update this. But we have fun things coming up. Woo!**

 **Thought, theories, comments-all welcome!**


	8. And the Darkness

Zalla Dane's apartment was neat and clean, with a bag in one corner that was filled with clothes that weren't hers. There were books—not on bookshelves, but on a table or two. All were open. All were empty.

Zalla sat on her couch, hunched over, hand covering her mouth, staring at a box of letters. Well, at blank pieces of paper. She was having trouble breathing, and Valkyrie sat across from her and had absolutely no idea how to help.

"Everything?"

Zalla threw her phone on the table. Valkyrie picked it up, scrolled through the one-sided texts. Smilie faces and winkie faces and not a single reply. Valkyrie set the phone back on the glass, turned to look at Skulduggery standing behind her.

"What did Beleaguer write?"

"I _told_ you, she didn't—just histories! Recollections of things! Reports on wars and political stuff, trials! Who the fuck is _doing_ this?!" She sobbed, covered her mouth with her hand. "It's like they want to take her away," she said, so soft.

"It's not personal," Skulduggery said, picking up one of the abandoned books and flipping through it. "I feel as though it might have been a side effect of corrupting Beleaguer's work."

Zalla let out another sob.

Skulduggery gave her a moment, then snapped the book shut, took out a notepad. "That being said, I need you to give me as many book titles or subjects you can think of. Or enemies—"

"She didn't _have_ any."

"Book titles, then," Skulduggery said, voice quick.

For a moment, Valkyrie didn't think Zalla was going to say anything. But the other woman sat up, closed her eyes, concentrated.

"There was the most recent one, didn't have a title yet. Necromancers. Uh, the one about the New Zealand conflict, and the title was _War of Proximity_ , something like that. Another one on China's diplomacy with France, it was called something like that, too. And then…"

She opened her eyes, looked at Valkyrie, away just as quick.

"And then?" Skulduggery asked.

"Well, the whole… the whole war. She covered from the War of the Sanctuaries, how it bled into…" Zalla took a breath. "You know. Everything. The rebuilding, the warlocks. Firsthand accounts from that."

Valkyrie frowned, and she wished Zalla had put a fan out. Her mind felt like a swamp, and she rubbed her forehead, tried to get her thoughts straight. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to be with Alice. No, not Alice, that made her heart hurt. She wanted to go back to Skulduggery's house and take a cold shower.

Not to Finbar's, either.

Skulduggery was talking, and Valkyrie tuned back into the conversation.

"We'll call you. We're going to check with our sources, see if any other authors have experienced something similar to this. It's a pretty unusual happenstance, so it should have been reported somewhere."

Zalla nodded, grabbed a throw pillow, hugged it to her stomach. "Yeah."

Skulduggery touched her shoulder, and Valkyrie stood, hesitated. "I'm sorry. About Bel."

Zalla didn't answer, but there was something in the look she gave Valkyrie that made her want to turn away.

Valkyrie followed after Skulduggery. She winced as she heard another stifled sob as they shut the apartment door. Skulduggery handed her the book as the descended the stairs, and Valkyrie flipped through it, frowned.

"Nothing."

"Are you surprised?"

Valkyrie shut the book. "It's just— _it's stupid_. Everything."

"That's not very scientific."

"Yeah, well, the scientific method hasn't exactly worked out for us, has it?" Valkyrie stepped out into the muggy air, scowled. "I wish it would just hurry up and rain. We've been dying."

Skulduggery followed after her, slower. "You keep referencing that."

Valkyrie looked over her shoulder. "What do you mean? About the rain? Probably."

"No, that nothing is making sense. That we've been having trouble on the case, that we've been researching and it hasn't worked out in our favor. We've barely begun on this case, and you're already frustrated that we don't have leads."

Valkyrie wanted to get into the Bentley, but she leaned against it, instead. Her stomach was rolling, and she wished she hadn't eaten the ice cream. And her head hurt. And her ribs.

Skulduggery approached her slowly. "Valkyrie, is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine. Look, can we just go to Gordon's again and research? Or, or to Roarhaven, see if China has anything? Or can we… Just, something else?"

Skulduggery tilted his head, and she realized he was questioning her. "Finbar's?"

Valkyrie swallowed. "No."

"Why?"

They stood there, looking at each other. The sky was starting to get dark, clouds swirling over the apartment tops. Valkyrie wanted to cry. She shrugged.

"What's the point?"

Skulduggery opened his jaw, but his phone rang. He looked down at his pocket.

"You should get that," Valkyrie said. "It might be useful. Some information."

Skulduggery looked from his pocket to Valkyrie, and just when she thought he would let it ring, he slipped it out of his pocket and answered it.

 **…**

Valkyrie's eyes snapped open and her body lurched involuntarily. She gasped in pain, curled on her side as her muscles screamed at her.

She waited for the ache to subside, then slowly processed. She was at Skulduggery's. It was night. It was raining; a small part of her cried out in relief. She was sore, so sore. No, think past that, what hurt?

Her back, like she had fallen. She wondered if she had broken something. She flexed her toes, her fingers, slowly sat up. Nothing _felt_ broken. She just felt like a giant bruise.

The rain tapped against her window. She hadn't realized how much she missed the sound.

She reached for her phone on the side table, frowned when it was dead. She searched around, found the charger cord on the ground, plugged it in to the phone. She waited for it to charge, stood up, stretched, held the pose, her breath, released.

The phone lit up.

Lit up with text messages.

Valkyrie cursed, sat back on the bed.

 _ **Alice 6.50 pm** : Where r u?_

 _ **Alice 6.50 pm** : Are you just runnin late or….? _

_**Alice 7.17 pm** : Serisouly are you gonna show?_

 _[ **Missed Call, Mom, 7.30pm** ]_

 _ **Alice 7.40 pm** : If youre gonna bail the least you could do is warn me because now mom thinks that it's because u make us fight_

 _ **Alice 7.41 pm** : whatever have fun w skullduggery_

Valkyrie sighed, rubbed her eyes.

 _ **Me 2.33 am** : Sorry time got away from me!_

Valkyrie waited to see if Alice was up this late. After five minutes, Valkyrie stood back up, found a tshirt, and pulled it on. She trudged downstairs, squinting in the dark, wondering if Skulduggery was up this late, or if he was meditating.

She froze halfway down when she realized Skulduggery was at the base of the stairs. He was just… standing there, completely still. Valkyrie followed his gaze, but he just seemed to be looking towards the kitchen.

"Skulduggery?"

He jerked like she shocked him, looked at her. "Valkyrie?"

Valkyrie frowned and sat down on the stairs. "You okay?"

Skulduggery tilted his head. "Perfectly fantastic, thanks for asking. Is everything all right with you? What are you doing up so late?" His skull turned away from her, slightly. "What am _I_ doing up so late?"

"I had a bad dream." Valkyrie shrugged.

"I think I had a nightmare, as well," he mused. He stepped closer to the stairs.

"Did you know it was Thursday? Alice texted me. I guess I forgot, or something. She's going to be pissed." Valkyrie yawned. "Maybe you could come over next week. She'd forgive me if she could ask you about your… Well, whatever weird thing she finds interesting about you."

Just the sound of rain against the roof.

"Yes."

Valkyrie frowned. "Well, that was very monosyllabic of you."

"Careful," Skulduggery murmured, "that was a big word."

Another silence.

"Uh, well, I'm going back to bed." Valkyrie stood. "In the morning we're—what, seeing if any other authors were murdered? Visiting China? Going cave spelunking?"

Skulduggery's head snapped back to her. "What did you say?"

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. "Uh, _are_ we going spelunking?"

"Maybe. Are you feeling okay?"

"Are _you_ feeling okay?"

Skulduggery stepped up the stairs toward her. "I'm not sure. I don't think either of us are. I think we're missing something. It's right on the tip of my metaphorical tongue, but I can't quite figure it out." He stopped, a head shorter than her on the stairs. "I feel like we need to go to Finbar."

Valkyrie frowned. "What? Why?"

"Why not?" he asked quickly.

"It… doesn't seem like it would help our case any. I dunno'." Valkyrie yawned again. "We'll talk about it more in the morning. Just… try to meditate, alright? You're a little…" She waved her hand vaguely at him. "Night."

"Goodnight."

Valkyrie fell gratefully back into bed, curled into the covers. Alice hadn't texted back. Valkyrie let her eyes drift shut.

 **…**

Her phone was ringing. Valkyrie opened her eyes, blinked, grabbed it.

"Alice, listen, I didn't mean to—"

"Uh, Miss Edgley? It's Steven Mullaney, the agent for Gordon Edgley's books."

Valkyrie sat up. Her body was still sore, and she winced. Rain pattered. She felt like she could breathe again, and her thoughts felt sharp and crisp. She wanted to go downstairs and talk and joke, investigate.

"Oh. Yeah."

"I'm calling in regards of… a printing error."

Valkyrie stood. "Mm, alright. I have to get going to work, so if you could just tell me how much it'll cost to fix it, how it will affect sales, I would really, really appreciate it."

There was silence on the other line, and Valkyrie wondered if he had hung up.

"Do you have any of Gordon's books nearby?"

"Uh." Valkyrie looked around, looked under her bed. "I think so. Uh, yep." She hooked her free hand around one of Gordon's thicker novels and pulled it out from under the pile of laundry. "Found one."

"Open it."

Valkyrie's heart skipped a beat.

She opened it.

Empty, empty pages.

"Skulduggery!"

"I'm sor—"

Valkyrie hung up on him, stood up, nearly tumbled down the stairs, book clutched to her chest.

" _Skulduggery_!" Her voice scared her.

He stepped out of the living room, looked up at her. "What's wrong?" he asked, voice low.

Valkyrie couldn't even speak, she just shoved the book at him and sat down on the ground at his feet. Her fingers were shaking and she wanted to fucking _kill_ someone but all she could do was thinking about all those copies on all those shelves and some small part of her screamed.

 _Who the fuck was this person?_

 _I'm going to kill them._

"They knew. They knew we were looking for them," Valkyrie said and stood, shook out her hands, wanted to pace. "They knew and they're just _fucking_ with me, with Gordon. He loved those books, Skulduggery."

"I know."

"He loved them. I swear to God, whoever's doing this better be able to put them back, put all those fucking words back or I'm going to kill them. I'm going to _hurt_ them. They're all I have. They're the reason—"

Valkyrie turned, walked into the living room, tried to control her heaving chest. She let out a little noise that was half growl and half sob. She sucked in a breath, held it. Turned to face Skulduggery.

He stood in the doorway, looking at a blank page, one of the first. Where the dedication would have been. The scene made Valkyrie want to turn away, crawl back into bed. It made her miss Gordon's voice. His jokes.

 _To my best friend—_

"Are they related?"

Skulduggery looked up. "I'm not sure. I've yet to receive any word of similar occurrences. We're going to find out. Get dressed."

Valkyrie stomach rolled as she pulled her work clothes on, as she sat in the Bentley. They peeled away from Skulduggery's house. Skulduggery was dialing people, making calm, clipped requests. They didn't talk in between phone calls.

Everything was slow and fast. Valkyrie remembered the first book she had read of Gordon's, something wonderfully fantastic that had left her terrified of bugs for weeks. Gordon has teased her about it, grinning like a madman.

She remembered the book she had read years ago. Before a man had called her and broken in and caught fire.

She remembered Tanith devouring chapters.

Valkyrie grit her teeth.

The rain was lightening up when they pulled up in front of the cemetery. They got out, strode across the green grass, through the headstones.

Gordon's grave had been dug up, reburied. Fresh.

Valkyrie's heart twisted, and she shut that part of herself off, deadened it. It wasn't helping. She needed to think. But someone had come here and touched her uncle and now everything he had ever done was gone, gone.

Valkyrie looked at the dirt.

"Are they related?"

"One of the Sanctuary's dummy companies, a publisher, was the one who noticed the anomaly. All books published within the past fourteen years, all recent history analysis, about the wars. And Gordon, now."

Valkyrie fist clenched. "They knew we were looking into it."

Skulduggery was still. "How? We were barely on the case for more than a day."

"I don't know. I don't know!" Valkyrie turned, boots soaked through with dew. Ghastly needed to make her new ones. "Nothing makes any sense! God! Fuck!"

Skulduggery started walking back. "We need to see Finbar."

Valkyrie's throat tightened, and she felt lightheaded. "No, we need to do something _useful_." She followed after him, grabbed his arm. "Skulduggery, what will that _help_? He's just going to mumble about his son! We need to…"

Skulduggery was looking at her, head tilted down. "Why are you so against it? Why have you been?"

"I—there's no reason! Especially not now!"

"Why are you afraid? Valkyrie?"

Valkyrie's breath caught in her throat. "I don't know! I don't… Please."

"Valkyrie," he said, softly, stopped to look at her. "Something isn't right. You know that. I need you to evaluate why."

Valkyrie felt like she was holding a gun to her head. "Fine. Fine, we'll go. But it's pointless."

Skulduggery nodded, reached up, ran his thumb along her cheek. "We'll figure it out."

* * *

 **Shoutout to** Heslen **for guessing the plot. You were right-they're just concussed. They got knocked around too much in the cave.**

 **Also thanks to** Blufox03 **and** RedIvySparrow **for reviewing. ( I do read your reviews, I'm just too lazy to actually respond. )**

 **Reviews, theories, etc. welcome!**

 **Also, there _is_ a sequel planned. **


	9. Tiger Tattoo

She was panicking. Adrenaline swirled through her body, and her hands were shaking. Every breath felt like she was sucking in water. Her eyes felt hot, dangerously close to spilling tears. Her throat was tight.

Valkyrie was panicking, and she had no idea why.

Skulduggery was quiet in the seat next to her, but she could see his head inch towards her and back to the road every minute. He was looking at her out of the corner of his eye. She wanted to hide her face in her hands.

"I'm having Déjà vu," Skulduggery said softly.

Valkyrie swallowed. "Me, too."

He nodded.

His fingers tapped against the steering wheel, nonsense patterns, ceaseless. Valkyrie felt the same way.

When they pulled up to Temple Bar, Valkyrie took a shuddering breath and stood on the sidewalk while Skulduggery found a place to park. Her eyes flicked around, and she felt like she was looking for someone.

Temple Bar wasn't busy this early in the morning. There were a few people sweeping out front of the bars, some people jogging through, a family letting their toddler dip his feet into the fountain. It would get some business now that the rain had cooled things off.

Skulduggery strolled up to her, façade tight-lipped and brooding. They walked toward Finbar's parlor. They went slowly, scanning the area. Skulduggery whistled, and Valkyrie was petrified he would stop, let her know something was wrong.

For a second, she relaxed. She was overworked. She had imagined this fear. Built it up to be something it wasn't. Paranoia.

Her heart lurched when she caught sight of a man sitting at a table. She stopped walking, stared at him, and terror robbed her of any action. She could only look up.

Reality did a strange thing. It bent out, and all Valkyrie could think about was someone pushing a projector screen forward, warping the image. The clouds seemed to lap over one another, stretch forward to a point.

And then a hand broke through. It dragged the tear down, revealed dark, red skies, an arm cloaked in black. And then a woman with Valkyrie's face peered out.

Skulduggery's gun leapt into his hand, and he pulled the trigger three times in neat succession. They disappeared through the hole, and the other Valkyrie didn't even seem fazed. Her body didn't jerk back as the bullets hit her.

Valkyrie's mouth ran dry.

Darquesse looked at her and smiled. "Hey, Val."

 **…**

Valkyrie jolted out of bed, soaked in sweat, and collapsed to her knees. Sobs racked her frame, and she curled up on the floor as she cried. She wanted to become part of the wood. She sobbed, sobbed, sobbed.

She had done something bad. Bad bad bad.

Valkyrie Cain was not a good person, and she knew this down to her core. She banged her head once against the ground, and the pain felt good. She cried until she felt empty inside, and then she just lay on the ground.

Her phone buzzed, and she whipped it out before she could think. Alice had texted her, and something in Valkyrie recoiled. She dropped the phone, and she rolled away, took a few deep breaths.

A thought, cool and clear, cut through.

 _Why are you doing this?_

Valkyrie frowned, gritted her teeth, and sat up. Think.

She had been with Skulduggery. They had been going to see Finbar. There had been a man there. Valkyrie's frowned deepened. There _had_ been a man, wearing a cheap sports coat and three days' worth of stubble.

Valkyrie checked the time on her phone. She blinked—it was almost noon. She stood, realized she was already dressed, and hurried downstairs.

"Skulduggery?"

There was a bang from the living room, and Skulduggery strode out. He took her shoulders in his hands, held her at arm's length, looked her in the eye. Valkyrie blinked, rattled because he was.

"Valkyrie." He sounded relieved.

"Skulduggery, what happened?"

His head tilted. "I'm not sure. I've—I'm missing time. I think we've _been_ missing time. I think today was just what tipped us off. I've been running the past few weeks over in my head, trying to create a timeline, and there are entire days I can't account for. What's today?"

Valkyrie checked her phone again. "Friday."

"What did we do yesterday?"

It took Valkyrie longer than she would have liked. "The murder. The," she motioned with her hand, frustrated. "We talked with Dane. Zalla Dane, about her girlfriend. Bea."

Valkyrie realized she was starving.

"And then what?"

"What do you mean?"

Skulduggery squeezed her shoulders. "That barely took up half the day. What did we do after going to her apartment?"

"I… We…" Valkyrie's head hurt. "I don't remember."

"I got a phone call. That's the most I can remember. We left her apartment, and we were arguing whether or not we should go to Finbar's. And then I got a phone call from China, and we went to the Sanctuary. The rest of the day is gone. Next thing you remember?"

Valkyrie chews on her lip. "I woke up." She frowned. "I woke up, and my entire body hurt. It's like someone had slammed me against a wall. Was yesterday Thursday?" She reached up to rub her head, and Skulduggery released her shoulders.

"It was. You woke up in the middle of the night and came downstairs. That's the next thing I remember. Before I was…" He looked at the kitchen.

"You were what?"

His head snapped back to her. "I've been having some intrusive thoughts lately."

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Skulduggery reached up to adjust his tie. "About my family."

Valkyrie blinked. "I… Uh, well… What sort of thoughts about them?"

Skulduggery moved on to his gloves, tugging them further down. "Intrusive ones."

A flicker of irritation. "Look, I don't care, I just want to figure this out, okay?"

"I know you don't care. Silly, stupid thoughts about them. My child running down the hallway, my wife in the kitchen. They aren't _my_ thoughts—my wife abhorred cooking. It's how someone would imagine a perfect family to be, and then used my wife and child as their actors in my head."

Valkyrie nodded. "Someone is messing with our thoughts."

"It appears so." Skulduggery was very still. "You woke up in the middle of the night. What happened next?"

"You were being weird, and I went back to bed. Then…" Valkyrie blanched. "Gordon's books. I forgot. Someone's targeting us. Then we…" Valkyrie wanted to cry again. "We went to see Finbar."

"What did we speak to Finbar about?"

"I—I don't remember." Valkyrie swallowed. "Something bad. I…"

"Something bad," he agreed. "I'm missing three bullets in my gun. Can you think of anything else of significance from the last twenty-four hours?"

Valkyrie's head spun. "A man."

"A man?"

"He's just… He was just familiar. I've seen him before, and he was sitting somewhere nearby when we were there."

Skulduggery filed this away. "Any distinguishing features?"

Valkyrie shook her head. "No, nothing. Stubble, a coat, I think he had a notebook or something. I just remember him. When I saw him, I think I… knew something was going to happen." She closed her eyes. "I think…"

"Right." He walked back into the living room, and Valkyrie followed behind him. He took a blank legal pad off of his desk and handed it to her. "From now on, we write down everything we do, the time, and the date. We can't keep losing things."

Valkyrie grabbed a pen from the desk.

 _12.07 PM – discussed memory loss, Skul. living room_

"We need to have our memories evaluated."

"Again," Valkyrie said.

Skulduggery looked at her. "When was the last time we had our memories examined?"

"Do you really expect me to remember, especially after all this?" She tapped the pen against the paper. "Janet. Janet did it. I have no idea when, or why, but it was her."

Skulduggery pulled out his phone. "Then I suppose we know who to call."

Valkyrie dug through the kitchen for food as Skulduggery talked. Everything was stale or rotting. Valkyrie wondered how much time they had last shopped as she munched on a box of stale cereal. It was the only thing that was even remotely edible.

She wasn't very hungry, but she knew her body was physically starving.

 _12.20 - Val ate gross cereal, Skul talked to Janet_

Skulduggery popped his head in. "It was her day off, but she agreed to meet us at the Sanctuary. She didn't want to."

Valkyrie frowned, shoved another handful of cereal into her mouth. "Why not?"

Skulduggery shrugged. "She isn't exactly the best at articulating her thoughts, is she? However, she's talented, and she's already been in your head. She'll understand how things work up in there."

Valkyrie grabbed one last handful.

Skulduggery tilted his head. "You can bring the box."

Valkyrie grunted and threw the box back in the cabinet. "Let's go."

 _12.33 - Drove to Roarhaven_

They were quiet in the car. There wasn't much to talk about, and Valkyrie wasn't much in the mood. She kept unlocking and locking her phone, but she felt sick whenever she contemplated texting Alice.

In the end, she sent a text to Tanith, who responded with a rainbow emote.

"Do you think this is affecting Tanith? Or Ghastly?"

"Ghastly hasn't mentioned anything."

They lapsed into silence. In the end, Valkyrie rested her head against the window. Everything hurt; her head, hear stomach, her back, her legs. And something swirled inside of her, something that she wanted to ignore. Because that would hurt the worst.

The Sanctuary shone in the afternoon light as they pulled into their parking space. Valkyrie stepped out, and she wished it wasn't so pretty. She hated getting bad news on pretty days. There was something so wrong about it.

 _12.54 - Arrive at Roarhaven_

The Sanctuary was deserted, the workers having escaped to happier places. Their footsteps echoed faintly.

"What if it's really bad?" she asked softly.

Skulduggery looked at her.

"What if whatever I did was really bad?"

"How are you so sure it's only you?"

"I just do." Valkyrie shook her head. "I can just tell."

"I'm going to abandon you on the side of the road like a stray dog. You could do just about anything, Valkyrie, and I wouldn't much care. And there's no use in dreading the future. Let's see what Convivial has to say."

And there she was, twisting her hands in her lap, looking like they were her executioners.

"Skulduggery," she said, standing. "Valkyrie," she choked out. "Diving back into your head?"

Skulduggery nodded. "You are. We appreciate this, Convivial. Valkyrie here is a little grumpy, but she's happy you agreed to do this, as well."

Convivial nodded, but her eyes kept flicking back to Valkyrie, and she could see her hands shaking, twisting, clawing at her skirt.

"Right. I just… Don't be… How far back are we going?"

Valkyrie glanced at Skulduggery, handed him the legal pad.

"A year," she decided.

"Right." Convivial shook out her hands. "Okay. I…"

Valkyrie didn't want to sit down. She didn't want to see Convivial's face, pale and drawn, and she didn't want to see Skulduggery watching every movement. Valkyrie didn't want to be here, she wanted to go home and go for a run, and she didn't want Convival's hands, cold and clammy, against her temples, and she didn't

* * *

 **Thanks to** Blufox03 **,** RedIvySparrow **,** 343 guilty spark **,** **and** Heslen **for your reviews! 3**

 **The sequel is gonna' be way different in tone! I haven't really started plotting for it, but know it's in the works.**


	10. Janet

Cereal, dry and gross. Valkyrie munched on it.

"You can bring it in the car."

Valkyrie blinked at him, swallowed. She needed a drink of water, something, but her mouth was too dry. She felt sick, and she needed milk, something. Skulduggery tilted his head at her and started toward the garage.

His body whipped left, smashing through the window. Valkyrie let out a scream and practically threw herself after him. She was having trouble breathing, smoke and dust and fear filled her lungs and stung her eyes.

"Skulduggery!" she screamed, and someone else—she had screamed his name then, too, a second after she did. Like a shadow of the word.

She felt her skin prickle, and she turned. Darquesse walked smoothly in the air towards her.

Temple Bar was deserted. The world seemed to be on mute, no noise, nothing, just Valkyrie's heartbeat in her ears. It was sunny and cool and the whole place seemed to slump, colors sliding into one another.

Darquesse was talking, mouth moving. Valkyrie knew she was talking back. What, what, what was she saying?

The sky was growing red behind her. The portal into the other dimension grew, eating away at the blue. Another world's sun peaked out, and it was all Valkyrie could do to not shut her eyes and curl in on herself.

A man sipped his coffee, slowly disappearing behind the edge of the portal.

The sound cut back in, and things seemed to sharpen.

"—friends."

Something seared in Valkyrie's memory, something that made her ears pop and her stomach turn. Something that was _not_ stepped out of that portal. Valkyrie's mind screamed at her.

She backed away, away, away, and then Skulduggery was gripping her arm, right on a bruise.

The pain was hot through her arm, hotter than that damn sun, real and dull and sharp. Valkyrie's head swam, and everything bled together again, and she wanted to be sick, and Skulduggery was talking in her ear and covering her eyes.

God, what had she done?

The scene jerked, and suddenly they were surrounded by people, faces on top of black veins.

Valkyrie slammed her foot through someone's head and somewhere, she screamed, and then she was back and Skulduggery was talking in her ear again, but this time he was jerked away and the portal was—

Darquesse stood in front of her. The memory flicked again, and this time the smell of home hit Valkyrie, and then blood, and Fletcher was leaning against the wall and there was Valkyrie—Stephanie on the stairs—

It was hot, Valkyrie had no jacket on, perspiration ran down her arms. Darquesse smiled at her—

A man was reading a newspaper—

The world bent out to a point again, a hand, the face. Darquesse looked down at them and snarled and—

The grave looked more like mud in the sun. Valkyrie looked up and saw a man in a long coat, and Skulduggery was standing next to her, too.

"God! Fuck!"

Valkyrie's voice—her voice was sharp and angry. The grave began to sink into the ground, and Skulduggery turned away from her. Valkyrie wanted to grab him and hold on and cry.

"We need to see Finbar."

Darquesse pushed through the sky, fingers wiggling. Her hair was wild and crazy, and she looked down at them and grinned. Skulduggery kept walking, right underneath her. Darquesse pushed herself through the portal, but the edges were sticking.

Valkyrie was hot, but she felt the breeze.

"Why are you so against it? Why have you been?" Skulduggery asked, too close.

Valkyrie's heart was in her throat, and then the shadows of the trees grew into a doorway and sadness crushed Valkyrie's heart. Skulduggery stood there, thumbing through a blank, blank Gordon Edgley book.

It was dark and Valkyrie's body ached. The Bentley was purring. Valkyrie laughed, doubling over, straining every muscle in her body. Skulduggery patted her back, but she heard him laughing, too.

"That was—"

It was dark and the bed was soft and she blinked as fire danced in front of her eyes. She was stunned, stumbling around, but Skulduggery's hand was like an anchor. He pulled her out of the way and something _roared_.

Her head rattled and she stumbled.

Skulduggery cursed and dragged her, but her feet caught on something and then they were flying through the air. She slammed into a wall, the breath _whoosh_ ing out of her. She laid on her side and tried to seem small, tried to hide so she could recover her breath, recover something.

The world danced back into view, and a dragon was in the Sanctuary's front lobby.

Valkyrie laughed.

The dragon's head whipped around to look at her. It was a huge, horned thing, but it didn't seem right. Its wings were too small, its legs too gangly, body too fat. It stumbled over to her, jaw clicking together.

Valkyrie rolled neatly to her knees, but even though she was well out of the way, the dragon swung its tail and hit her. She went flying again, right toward a hole in the wall—where the dragon had made its entrance—but she hit more wall. The wind rushed out of her again.

Skulduggery called her name, but fuck did her everything hurt. She should be dead, because these clothes weren't doing anything.

"Valkyrie?" Skulduggery yelled again.

Valkyrie managed to raise a weak hand.

Fire swirled along the ground, but the dragon swam through it like it was water. Skulduggery planted his feet, the ground cracked, but the floor didn't stick to the dragon. The dragon danced over the marble that wanted to trap its feet.

Valkyrie finally managed to get her feet back under her. She let electricity run over her arms, waited until the buzz of magic blotted out the pain, and she raised her arm and fired.

Absolutely no effect, but she did manage to get the dragon's attention again.

Valkyrie's feet flew out from under her, and she skidded across the ground. She yelped and kicked out, but when she saw she was sliding toward Skulduggery, she relaxed. She spun to a stop at his feet.

"You're going to get yourself killed," he said brightly.

His phone rang, and Skulduggery pulled it out. Valkyrie rubbed the back of her neck, flicked her hand to rid herself of the sweat. Not Finbar's, no, no.

Skulduggery's whole posture stiffened, and Valkyrie froze. He marched around to the driver's side, and Valkyrie knew she got in after him.

"Hey, Finbar. Skulduggery and I are on a case, and we might need you to do your voodoo. A couple of men with no memories were guarding something, and they've disappeared. And I've been getting bad vibes about the whole thing. Nightmares, if you could look into it, that'd be great."

Valkyrie shut her phone and turned. Ghastly's shop looked even more rundown than usual. It almost looked like it was actually abandoned. When Skulduggery tried the door, it was open. Heat poured out, and Valkyrie recoiled.

Her mouth was dry, and she ran her tongue around her cheeks.

"Man, I'd kill for an ice cream."

Skulduggery rubbed the tip of his shoe through the dust on the floor. "How about after we visit?"

"Yeah, you said that last time. And then we ended up at Ghastly's. You really sort of suck. You heard my stomach rumble, told me we were going to get food, and then…" Valkyrie waved her arms around. "This place."

"Ghastly?" Skulduggery called.

No response.

"Skulduggery, ice cream."

Skulduggery stepped forward, hands hovering, reading the air. Valkyrie sneezed at the dust, watched Skulduggery move. It was hot and she couldn't think, and she didn't want to be here.

"Skulduggery."

Skulduggery's head twitched, and he looked back at her. "Everything all right?"

"We need to leave."

"Yes. Yes, I think we do."

They walked to the Bentley and left that sad place. Valkyrie fell into the chair and Janet was standing in front of her, twisting her skirt. Irritation prickled over Valkyrie's skin, and the scene seemed out of focus, colors blurring together, shapes indistinct.

"I, I mean I don't know. You were thinking about Alice. In the pool?"

Alice floated by, the scar on her chest dark against her skin. Valkyrie's eyes flicked from Convivial to Alice, and something in Janet's face changed. And then Valkyrie was standing by the pool and sitting in front of Convivial and sitting in front of Convivial, hands on her temples.

And then the sound of a war was around them, and Valkyrie's ears rung. There was—it was heavy on her forearm. So heavy, and Alice was crying so, so hard.

"I'm sorry baby. I'm sorry baby, I'm—"

Valkyrie shook her head and took a step back. "Let me out. Let me out! _Let me out_!" Her words tore at her throat and she had to look away from that, God, Jesus—"Don't make me watch that!" she _screamed_ —

 **…**

"Get _off_!" Valkyrie yelled, lashing out.

Her boot caught Convivial straight on, and the woman fell backwards. Valkyrie pushed herself out of her chair and tried to breathe, tried to think, but what had she done what had she done what—

"Valkyrie."

Valkyrie stopped, staring down at the ground, panting. Her eyes fluttered and her head throbbed.

Skulduggery slipped up to her side, smooth and easy. "Valkyrie." His voice… "Valkyrie, I need you to look at me. Can you do that?"

No, she couldn't.

"Valkyrie."

Slowly, slowly, Valkyrie looked up. As soon as her gaze met his, she burst out sobbing. She fell forward and her caught her, held her in his arms. And she cried and cried. He was talking but she couldn't listen, couldn't bear to think.

She cried until it hurt to breathe and then she just stood there. He held her.

"Always?" It was all she could ask, and she wasn't even sure what.

"Of course."

Valkyrie peeled herself away from him and shook out her hands. Skulduggery hovered, and it was only when he shifted to be in front of her did Valkyrie remember Convivial. Shame rushed through her, and her cheeks burned.

Valkyrie nodded to Skulduggery and he moved. Valkyrie took a shaky step towards Convivial, and Skulduggery's hand was right there in the small of her back.

"Janet?" Convivial asked. She was still on the ground, playing with her hands in her lap.

"That's hardly of any importance, is it?" Skulduggery said, voice clipped.

Valkyrie wanted to cry again. All she wanted to do was cry. "I'm sorry."

Janet's hands fidgeted. "Okay. I—I figured something wasn't right. The first time, it felt like I was missing the whole story. And I guess I was."

Valkyrie looked away.

"I'm going home."

Skulduggery's head snapped back to look at Convivial. "You're essential to this operation. I'm sorry we needed you on your day off, but this is much larger than a forgotten name. How far back did you end up going?"

A silence, and Valkyrie realized it was her turn to speak. "I… I honestly don't know."

Convivial stood. "You… I'm—I'm going home. You can't boss me around."

Skulduggery took a step towards her. Convivial's eyes widened, and she hunched her shoulders. Then Skulduggery's hands relaxed, and he nodded, turning back towards Valkyrie.

"Of course. Thank you for your time."

Valkyrie didn't see Convivial walk away. She didn't care. She was led back to the couch, and she sank into it.

How long did they sit there? The shadows grew longer in the lobby. Valkyrie remembered so many things, the pomp, the splendor. The dead, piled around. A bomb, distant in her head. A shadow of armor.

They trickled into her brain and she wanted to scream. She wanted to slam her head against the ground until she didn't have to think.

"Valkyrie, please speak to me. Please."

"I'm a bad person," she whispered.

* * *

 **[ Isn't actually dead ]**

 **Thanks to** Heslen **,** Blufox03 **, and** RedIvySparrow **for your reviews.**

 **Heslen-not on hiatus, just a terrible, irregular updater. 3**


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